


Loki x Reader - A Match made in Hel

by TheJokersEnigma



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Asgard, F/M, Hydra, Loki x Reader - Freeform, Stark Tower, i don't know what im doing in this story really..., i don't really know what else to tag this as, im just gonna put random words that I hope will be in this story?, maybe smut?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-02 08:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 50,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13314675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJokersEnigma/pseuds/TheJokersEnigma
Summary: Ok, I'm not sure what I'm doing with this story... I just wanted to give Loki x Reader a go and I have a vague plot, but I don't really know what's going to happen....Loki x Reader - My take on a Ragnarok story (but nothing like the movies apart from Hela wants to take over and Odin's dead)After a Hydra transport party was taken out by the Avengers and a begrudging Loki, they are left with a concussed reader and the question of why she was in the heavily armed Hydra vehicle with such a large guard in the first place.The problem is she doesn't seem to know either.(I'm shit at summaries and I don't want to give it all away!)





	1. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> I really appreciate anyone who gives this story a go! I've never written a Loki x Reader before, but I'm so in love with that I really wanted to give it a go!  
> I only have a vague idea where this is going so it'll be a mystery to me how this turns out as well! haha  
> Hope you Enjoy anyway

I opened my eyes to find myself falling onto the tarmac hard, my head hitting the surface with a resounding crack that had my eyes watering and my vision blurring. Despite this, directly in front of me I saw what I thought to me the front left wheel of a car.   
There was a building pressure in my head where it had collided with the ground, and I thought I could feel something wet against my cheek. When I tried to move a shooting pain when through my skull and a wave of nausea washed through me, black spots in front of my eyes before I quickly gave up that idea.  
I was aware of the noises around me, but every sound seemed dim and fuzzy. From the tones of the voices I knew that there were people shouting around me, but I couldn’t see anyone and it all sounded too quiet and miles away. A series of bangs started and stopped sporadically, then there was a crash that sounded louder than the other noises and I thought I saw the side of the car next to me shake.  
Despite all of this, I felt I didn’t care about the carnage around me - I almost felt calm – like I had convinced myself it was all a dream.  
And maybe it was. I had blacked out for a moment – there was nothing to suggest this was reality – in fact it was strikingly unrealistic at the moment, I didn’t understand anything my eyes were showing me and I swear I saw a flash of green over my head.  
An experimental shift of my head made a shock of agony go through my body and I felt the wetness under my cheek again - now feeling more like a puddle.   
Then I blacked out.  
\-----------------------------

My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool, my arms felt like lead and I could barely move. It didn’t feel important to open my eyes right now. It didn’t feel important to move. Nothing was important I wasn’t even sure who I was. Had I ever known who I was? That was too deep. My head hurt too much for that. Just settle for sleep. Sleep was easy.  
I drifted off again.   
Something in the skin of my forearm felt tight and my arms were still too heavy to move. I finally decided it was probably best to open my eyes, but when I did I found myself blinded by a sharp, glaring light above me and I was forced to squint painfully at the sharp light above me.   
I tried to get myself to sit up, but every muscle in my body screamed at me and my head spun until I wasn’t sure which way was up or down.   
Somehow, I managed to throw an arm out behind me to catch myself before I fell back onto what felt like a mattress. My eyes slowly adjusted to find I was in a white room full of metal equipment, lying on a small single bed in the centre of the room. But this wasn’t my bed. And this wasn’t my room. I hugged my other arm to my chest at the overwhelming exposure and vulnerability I felt here, weakly propped up on my arm and unable to protect myself with absolutely no idea where I was.  
My ears still seemed to be ringing, continuing to cloud any sounds around me, but I could hear the heart monitor on my side going crazy as I could feel myself panicking. Where was I? Where was everyone else? Where was Ma’am?   
My eyes darted around the room desperately, trying to find any trace of anything familiar. Anything.  
But no. The most I found was a piece of equipment that looked similar to something in my room – a metal box with cannisters and pipes attached - but it wasn’t the same one and nothing else around offered any comfort.  
My breath was coming in short bursts now, and my mind couldn’t think straight in the panic. I could feel my vision blurring and I felt myself fall back onto the bed. I had a vague thought of maybe hearing a door open somewhere, then I was out again.   
\-------------------

When I opened my eyes this time, there wasn’t a harsh light, and there was only a dull, barely noticeable, ache in my head. I managed to easily – though warily – sit myself up right without any woozy or dizziness forcing me back down.   
The room around me wasn’t the same at it had been, instead it was far more familiar.   
My usual room. The same 4 walls that I usually resented, now offering the familiarity that was incredibly comforting, the same thin single bed under my legs, the same concrete floor and heavy window directly in front of me, the same equipment lining the walls.  
But there was something odd - now that I looked again - the room was uncharacteristically dark. What was going on? What had the other room been? Why had I been moved there and now back here? Was it the sleeping period? Was that why it was so dark?  
“Hello?” I called, but my voice came out quieter than I thought, and my mouth seemed heavy and cumbersome. I swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Hello?” I tried again, but the same thing happened.  
There was no response and I wanted to leave my bed, but my body didn’t seem to respond, and I continued to gaze into the shadows directly in front of me.  
“Ma’am?!” I called desperately to the rest of the room, any of the comfort I had from the familiar surroundings now being replaced with the sense of panic again. “Ma’am, please!” I pleaded into the shadows.  
“Now my dear… there is no need to fret so…” Drawled a voice in amusement from the shadows in front of me and a man stepped out into the bare light surrounding me.  
I tried to retreat away from this man, yet for some reason my movements seemed to make no change. This man screamed intimidating at me. He was tall and slim, dressed in armour with shoulder length hair that almost blended into the darkness behind him. He had a sinister smirk on his face as he eyed me like his next meal, his eyes – even from this distance – were a deep emerald that felt piercing and made me shiver. As he prowled forwards towards me, a golden staff suddenly in his left hand, and a crown of gold materialised on his head, the gold running upwards and forming two long curled horns.   
I couldn’t do anything but gaze in awe and fear at the man, and this only seemed to please him as he stepped ever closer to me. Though I barely registered it – my eyes too focused on this stranger – the rest of the items in my room had vanished, leaving me cowering on my small bed in the middle of the room under a spotlight, everything else around me was black. Despite all of this, the man continued forward, clear even in the darkness like he was emitting his own glow.  
He now stepped into the small pool of light around my bed, stopping only inches from my bedside, forcing me to draw my legs up back onto the bed and pulled up close to my chest. “Who are you?!” I managed to say, my voice shaking with fear as I hugged my legs. He leaned over, his face coming dangerously close to mine and forcing me to lean backwards. Despite my obvious discomfort he didn’t stop, and I continued to retract back as his faced followed mine until till I found myself lying down once more on the bed, to scared to question how I had got in this position and too concerned that I was no longer about to retreat any further from him.  
“Would you like me to show you?” He asked with a sinister grin, coming all the more closer and I could see him raising his staff up, till it was suddenly point it down at me. I didn’t pause to consider how it had got there that fast, and I closed my eyes in fear.  
“No! No! No! N-“

\---------------------------------  
My eyes snapped open and I couldn’t help the wave of relief that washed through me when the man was no longer towering over me. It was dream. A very vivid nightmare. I could feel my heart still hammering and a cold sweat over my body.   
Any relief I felt from waking though, was short lived as my eyes soon confirmed I was back in the painfully bright and pristine room from earlier.  
I went to sit up once again, determined to leave the bed now, but I soon found I could barely make it a few inches before there was tightening over my chest and I forced to lie back down. I head ached with the effort, and I could feel the panic building in me again. I wasn’t giving up that easy though. I squirmed and struggled desperately I fought against the restraints. No. No. I didn’t want this. What was happening?!  
I thought about calling for help, but that would probably only bring the people that did this to me, instead I gritted my teeth and fought more, ignoring the painful tugging in my forearm or the erratic heart rate monitor.  
I thought I could hear tearing and something hot was rushing through my veins as I fought against whatever held me down. But just as suddenly, my whole body felt like it had been plunged in icy water and my muscles went numb, any movements slowing as my arms and legs grew heavy and I slumped back to the bed in exhaustion. I couldn’t help the groan that released through my lips, barely registering the banging in the background or the voices around me as my eyes began to flutter closed. No I wanted to be awake. I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to know what was going on.  
A strong shiver ran through my body, shaking every muscle, then replaced with a burning heat that made me sweat ridiculously. The pattern repeated. This was torture.  
Wait – was that a woman that just passed? Was that ma’am? No. This woman had red hair. Who was she? Where was ma’am?  
Another figure, but I couldn’t tell if this was a man or a woman, my vision blurring too much.  
I felt so hot, but so cold. I was burning, but I couldn’t stop myself from shivering. I gave up even thinking about trying to get my body to fight my current situation, all my concentration focused on the hell my body was going through. I didn’t even care about the people around me anymore - they could do what they wanted. Maybe they’d stop it. Maybe they’d kill me. Right now, I didn’t care if I lived or died – this was agony.   
I wanted to curl up into a ball but the combination of my limp limbs and restraints stopped me from making any movement. The sweetness of a sleep was pulling at me again and it was a tempting offer now – blissful unawareness. I almost felt myself smiling at the promise.   
I wasn’t aware I had closed my eyes, but I must have already begun dreaming because I could have sworn I just saw that nightmarish man again. I was too out of it to be scared though, or even to notice that he didn’t have his staff or that odd crown of his. I couldn’t even give it a second thought before I lulled into the softness of oblivion and darkness.


	2. Rogers.

This time I didn’t dream. My sleep was just a peaceful dark oblivion which I welcomed gladly after all I’d been through recently. But I was all too aware when I felt my consciousness come back to me and I couldn’t help but groan. I didn’t want to open my eyes this time, didn’t want to admit there was something other than the peace of sleep – didn’t want to find out what was going on around me.  
I couldn’t hear anything apart from the steady beating of the monitor next to me, so I decided to risk taking a look around. There was no blinding light this time, instead the room was pitch black. It must be late, or very early. Either way, I guessed no one was in this room at the moment.  
I pushed my chest up, testing for the restraints. Yep, there was that familiar pressure over my chest limiting my movement, but something was different – my wrists were strapped down as well, but that wasn’t it - these weren’t straps anymore – they didn’t give even slightly, the edges cut into me painfully and the material was cool against the exposed skin of my wrists. I gave up quickly when I realised, releasing a short sigh. They were metal. I was secured under metal.  
I was stuck here, confused and defenceless with a sore head. What the hell was going on?!  
I lay there for a while running through my options, until I realised I had none. There was nothing I could do. In the end, I settled for wriggling around in the bindings hoping somehow, I’d find a weakness.  
All I ended up with was sore wrists and an aching chest.  
I bit back my tears. Wait. What was I doing?! That concussion had really done a number on me – I wasn’t a weak child crying over hopelessness! I had been taught better than that – as ma’am always said, tears were useless and showed nothing but weakness – something I didn’t have.  
Except who was I kidding, I was made of nothing but weaknesses – these restraints only continued to prove it to me… No. Snap out of that. Now. We were not resorting back to the whimpering mess we use to be, scolded a stern voice in my head. And, of course, I was right.  
“Ergh…!” I growled against my restraints as I pulled again despite the hopelessness of my task.  
Suddenly I froze, swearing I had heard movement in the room. I snapped my head from one side to the other, searching the darkness for anything I could see.  
Nothing. No sound, no movement.   
I was starkly reminded of my nightmare only hours early, except there wasn’t complete darkness around me, electronic lights flashing in the darkness showing signs of the electrical equipment hidden in the shadows. None the less my heart rate betrayed me, rocketing, as proved by the erratic monitor next to me. I silently cursed myself.  
I continued to glare into the shadows on my right, daring something to move. Just then, weak rays of flickered on across the room and I snapped my head to the left, now noticing a series of short binds handing against the wall. The light came from between the cracks, the blinds clearly hiding windows that led to another room or corridor next to mine. Just down from these windows was a door which was now thrown open to reveal a large figure, his front thrown in shadow, so I was unable to make out his features.  
He must have seen my movement because he reached a hand out to his right, flicking his wrist and the room was suddenly illuminated with that shocking light from earlier and I had to screw my eyes up against the brightness.  
“Ahhh, sorry!” A masculine voice apologised quickly, and my body immediately tensed when I heard his footsteps coming closer. I tried to pry my eyes open, willing them to adjust to the light quickly so I could see the man I was up against before he was on top of me. My eyes were not cooperating however – made worse by the fact I couldn’t shield my eyes with my hands - and I was only able to open them enough to see a blurry figure now stood on my left looking down at me.  
I pulled uselessly at my bonds when I realised how close he was. “It’s alright!” He said quickly, seeing me struggle. I barely heard his words, still squirming and my monitor beeping alarmingly at me. “Hey! Hey!” The guy called raising his hands to calm me. “It’s alright, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He promised.  
I stopped moving. My eyes had adjusted somewhat now, and I was able to see the man relatively clearly. He was tall, broad shouldered and his bulging muscles were clearly outlined under his T-shirt. I could feel myself desperately wanting to believe his words – his voice sounding honest – but I refused to let myself relax. I had been taught constant vigilance, never to let my guard down, especially around strangers, and I would stick to the words until I died.   
He seemed to realise I wasn’t going to calm down any further and settled for my current state as enough. He threw an arm out behind my head and I instinctively flinched back from him as he did so. He must have noticed my movement for he paused before slowly pulling the chair he had reached around and showing it to me in an attempt of reassurance, lifting it with ease. I eyed him suspiciously as then placed the chair by my bedside and slumped into it.  
I scrutinised my bedside friend and I noted how tired he looked, his blond hair messy and his eyes ringed with shadow. I almost felt for this man who looked like he was about to fall off his chair. But then I remembered myself and I stamped down on those feelings quickly. I didn’t know this man, so he was an enemy. Right?   
The man seemed to shake himself and then lent forward, resting his elbows on his legs, letting his arms drop and I assumed his hands hung between his legs, though I couldn’t see from my position. “So.” He sighed tiredly before he lent towards me, slightly. “What’s your name?”  
I watched him for a moment, eying him warily. Names were powerful. He wasn’t about to have mine. “Hannah.” I lied easily. The man nodded, not bothering to question it – especially when he was that exhausted.  
“Hi Hannah,” He greeted with a small weary smile, “I’m Steve – Rogers.” He added. He almost said it like I was supposed to know who that was, but I didn’t. I continued to eye him warily and I was only too painfully aware of how vulnerable I was lying on my back with this large man towering over me, despite his sitting position.  
“Where am I?” I asked, putting on my best innocent-girl-please-help-me-voice.  
Steve Rogers seem to consider whether to tell me for a moment. “Stark Tower – well, Avengers Tower now, actually.” He corrected himself. I nodded like this made sense, but it didn’t. What was ‘Avengers Tower’? I was taught to thrive off information – more importantly information other people didn’t have. Yet I had no information.  
I could feel myself panicking again and I had to push down my weaker side to keep my façade up. “Why am I here?” I tried again, something this man said had to make sense.  
Rogers frowned at me for a moment. “How much do you remember?” He asked back.  
I thought about this. Annoyingly, not enough. I could remember all my teachings. I could remember my rooms back at where I came from. I could remember being transported, though no one told me why and I remember falling out of the van and smacking my head. That was it. Why on Earth I had ended up here I didn’t know.   
I turned my attention back to the man. “I don’t remember anything.” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Rogers didn’t look happy at this information, but he didn’t seem to doubt it either.  
“Uhh…” He began awkwardly, rubbing the side of his face and running his fingers through his short hair, ruffling the back and making it even more dishevelled than it had been. “I think it may be easier to explain everything with the rest of the team here.” He admitted, apologies in his eyes.  
I let out a short sigh at this. Great, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear - I didn’t want anymore people around me. One person I could handle – one person I could get away from – a whole group of people made any hope of escape that much harder.  
“Look, its late.” Rogers said suddenly, pulling himself to his feet. “You get some rest and we’ll get everything cleared up in the morning.” He said, trying to reassure me as he shifted the chair to the side, so he could step back.  
I rolled my head so I stared up at the ceiling, closing my eyes at how frustrated I was at the situation, still hopelessly pinned to the table. I didn’t bother to watch Rogers as he headed towards the door, but I heard it open and him murmur a quiet ‘goodnight’ before the light above me went out and the door shut behind him. A few moments later, the lights through the blinds went out plunging me back into darkness.  
Right. Like I was going to sleep, I huffed to myself as I listened to the rhythmic beep of my own heart from the monitor next to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I will admit I did 2 chapters in one night - but don't expect this from me! haha it was only because I had the time (and I'm avoiding revising) and I had a comment on here after only about an hour! (I'm really grateful by the way)  
> Not a lot happens this chapter though, I apologise, I wanted to keep it relatively short because I need to go to bed haha  
> Anyway - yes - Feedback would be wonderful!  
> Hope you Enjoyed!


	3. The Team.

I was mainly right. It took me a long time to drift off, but the next thing I knew I was opening my eyes, so I guessed I must have slept – though it definitely didn’t feel like it.  
The room was full of natural light now from the windows on my left through which – from this position – all I could see was grey clouded sky. I realised what had woken me up when I glanced to the other windows that looked into the rest of the building. Voices. One was possibly Rogers.  
I only had to wait a few moments before the door open again, the voices falling silent as 5 people filed in one after another into the room. I immediately recognised Rogers and he moved without much worry to my bedside where he’d stood last night. The others seemed hesitant, lingering briefly as they assessed the situation. My eyes fell on the red head whose gazes flitted around the room briefly, surveying. I almost had to smile – a girl after my own heart.  
After she felt she had the room down, she stepped closer, so she was next to Steve, watching me with a suspicious, but not uncaring gaze. My eyes flickered to the rest. A relatively short, dark haired man had followed the woman’s lead and stood at the foot of my bed, slightly blocking my view of the other 2 men, but I could just make them out as they flittered along the wall opposite me, one keeping his head down and fiddling with equipment from the little I could see, the other patting him on the shoulder before strolling across the room at complete ease, occasionally checking a few numbers before he spun lazily to face me on my right. He didn’t bother to venture as close to my bedside as the others, maintaining his distance.  
“So…. Hydra chick…What’s your deal, hmm?” Asked the man on my right. I watched him as he carelessly twirled something that looked like a screwdriver between his fingers. He held himself with a certain air of importance, but he only wore a t-shirt and jeans with spiky almost black hair and neatly trimmed goatee. He didn’t look the part. Maybe it wasn’t importance, maybe it was just pride. I had no time for pride.   
“Tony.” The woman on my left growled at him in warning.  
“What?” He asked harmlessly, still spinning the tool, “We take down a Hydra transportation unit armed to the nines and all we find is her –“ He pointed the screwdriver at me as if I wasn’t even in the room, “in the back of a heavily armoured vehicle – and you think she isn’t something to do with them?” ‘Tony’ asked pointedly.  
“We’re not saying that.” Steve growled in annoyance, placing his hands on the edge of my bed and leaning over me. Despite what was going on over my head, I kept my eyes on Roger’s hands – I didn’t like a stranger being this close to me, especially when their hands were huge, strong, and far too close to my exposed neck without me able to do anything about it. “But just because Hydra had her, does not mean she is working for them.” He stated. “Besides,” He continued, taking one hand off the bed and throwing it up in the air, “She had a burlap sack over her head – that doesn’t exactly scream cooperation.”   
“Steve’s right.” Said the woman, glancing at Rogers, then flickering down to me before they fell on Tony on the other side of the room. “We don’t know anything about her situation, Stark.”  
Stark that rang a bell. Didn’t Roger’s say this was Stark tower once? That guy owned this place? Or maybe he had rich parents. Spoiled brat syndrome. That made more sense.  
“Here’s a crazy idea, kids.” The shorter, brown haired man piped up from my feet, “How about we actually ask her?” He asked, gesturing down at me with a warm smile and a wink. That shocked me, and I looked at him in bewilderment. No one ever winked at me.   
The others mumbled something along the lines of “alright.” “Yeah.” “Sure.” “You’re right.” Awkwardly looking anywhere but at me. The man at my feet nodded with a knowing smile and then turned back to me.  
“Ok, kid, let’s start simple.” He said kindly, “What’s your name?”   
I hesitated, snapping my eyes to Rogers momentarily before I turned them back on the brown-haired man. “H-Hannah.” I croaked, my voice rusty from lack of use. I thought I saw Rogers nod next to me.  
“Alright, Hannah.” The man smiled with a small nod. “I’m Clint Barton.” He introduced himself, placing a hand on his chest. “I believe you know Steve already,” He said gesturing to the man on my left, “then there’s Natasha-,”   
“-Romanova.” The woman added with a small smile and I let my lips quirk into a weak smile at her.  
“This over here is Dr Banner,” Barton continued, stepping back slightly and slapping the shoulder of the man fiddling with equipment. The doctor noticeably jumped at this chummy contact and gave a short breathy laugh before raising a hand in acknowledgement, only shooting a small glance over his shoulder at me.  
Barton stepped around the table to my right, “And this - delightful chap –“ he said, swinging an arm around the man who now stood by the windows starting out into the world. “Is Stark.” He declared, tightening his grip on the man so he was crushed against the rather solid body of Barton.  
The two twisted around to face me, Stark looking extremely uncomfortable at the contact and being compressed against the other man, and he raised a small hand as much as could with his eyes scrunched closed at the pressure on his body. “Tony.” He gasped. “Hi.” He muttered before Barton finally let him go.  
Barton headed back to his previous position at the foot of my bed looking rather proud of himself. “We are one man down at the moment.” He told me, “He’s – uh – busy.” Barton said, clearly not sure how to explain the other man’s absence.  
“Family issues.” Added Stark with a humourless smirk.  
“Right.” Barton nodded. “Major family issues…” He breathed to himself and I thought I saw the others smirk slightly at this. I felt I was missing an inside joke and I just frowned at them all in confusion, but they didn’t seem to notice.  
“Thor’s not the one up for question right now though.” Started Stark again, turning back to me, still with that damn screwdriver thing in his hands. “You are.” He said, pointing it at me once more. I couldn’t help scowling at him, but I didn’t say anything.  
Everyone was looking at me again, now the topic of conversation had been returned to its main target. “Stark.” Romanova warned him lowly as he stepped closer to my beside. All her warning did was cause Stark to stop pointing that damn instrument at me, but he continued his steady pace towards me and I eyed him stonily, cursing my restraints once more for holding me hostage.  
“Don’t deny the fact that we all want to know what little Miss here,” He said wiggling the instrument at me, “was doing in that van.” Tony directed this to the others, but his eyes remained intense and unblinking on me as he continued his slow, measured steps to my side. “And why you sat comfortably behind those bulletproof walls whilst we lost men to your ‘colleagues’” He teased grimly. “Bet it really hurt when you knocked your head pretty little head a bit.” He pouted insincerely. I could feel the temper in me rising and I probably would have lunged at the jerk if I wasn’t being restrained - instead I settled with an intense look of loathing.  
“Stark.” Romanova snapped at the man who was now inches from he, a bit closer and I would probably have tried to bite him. Stark seemed to realise himself then, and he abrupted snapped back upright and took a few steps away, his eyes back on the windows and not bothering to say another word. I didn’t take my eyes off him though, watching him warily.  
Romanova kept her eyes on Tony for a moment too, ensuring he was done with his little tirade, before she turned her gaze back to me. “Hannah.” She started, almost making me jump, my whole attention having been on the moody man on my right. I snapped my head around to face her and she looked at me almost surprised at how tense and edgy I was. “Hannah,” She repeated again in an attempt at comfort, “We just want to know what you know.” She reasoned calmly.  
My eyes flickered between the three around my bed, Romanova, Rogers, Barton. Then I settled on Romanova again. “I don’t know anything.” I told her. She frowned at my answer, but she didn’t seem annoyed at me for withholding information, more troubled that I might be speaking the truth. I thought I heard Stark mutter something on my right like ‘Oh course she’d say that’. I ignored him.  
Romanova seemed to think this over, “What is the last thing you can remember?” She asked. I pretended to think about this for a bit, as if it was difficult. They clearly didn’t like whoever I had been with before this point. Did that make these people my enemies? Stark was - I had decided that. Did that mean the rest were too?  
“I remember darkness…” I started carefully, and Romanova nodded. “Then the world shook…” I continued, acting like I was grasping at memories, which I sort of was – none of this was a lie, this was all I remembered of those moments. “When I opened my eyes again, I – I was on the floor – my head hurt a lot… and I remember seeing a wheel – like the front wheel of car… And I remember thinking my cheek was wet and there was a lot of noise that I couldn’t hear well… That was it… Then I was here…” I trailed off innocently, doing my best to look worried – which wasn’t hard to do.  
The three by my bedside had listened to intently this and nodded along in encouragement. They now looked between one another before back to me. “And that’s all you can remember?” Asked Rogers. I turned my eyes on him and gave a nod.  
“Anything before the van?” Asked Barton at my feet. I looked down at him now, shaking my head, though my neck was aching from constantly lifting my head. “No.” I said quietly. That was a lie. Though not as big a one as they might think.  
They all looked at each other perplexed, clearly this wasn’t what they wanted to hear.  
“Why am I here?” I dared to ask, raising my head slightly before I gave up, my neck aching too much and the back of my head beginning to throb.  
“Uh – well you have rather extensive head injuries from the fall,” Explained Rogers, “and…”  
“- and you’re a criminal.” Added Stark loudly, though when I swung my head round to look at him he hadn’t moved from his position of staring out the windows nonchalantly.  
“Possible.” Corrected Romanova sharply across my bed at him. I shot her a look of confusion and concern. “Uh – it’s just a precaution.” She backtracked quickly, “None of us know who you are… or what you are.” She added, slightly quieter. I frowned at this, ‘what I was’ - what was that supposed to mean?  
Rogers jumped in before I could ask, “Look, we’re all in the dark here – we need to focus on finding out any information we can about all of this.” His eyes dropped to mine and he gave a half-hearted smile to me, his eyes showing nothing but sympathy for me.  
“Rogers is right.” Barton agreed, and Romanova gave a nod. I didn’t bother to look at Tony, I could almost sense his displeasure without looking over at him.  
“Does that mean you’ll let me go?” I asked quickly, raising my head, ignoring the ache, my voice full of hope. This seemed to floor everyone around my bedside and they looked amongst each other uneasily.  
“Uh – I’m not sure that’s the best idea…” Said Rogers anxiously, “You do still have a head injury and…”  
“- And you don’t trust me.” I finished before Stark could jump in again - which I sensed he had been about to do. The three of them dropped their eyes, looking a bit sheepish, but they didn’t bother to deny it. I kind of liked them for that - but that didn’t stop me sighing loudly as I dropped my head back onto the bed.  
“I’m sure we could let you out of the restraints, though.” Suggested Rogers quickly, trying to find a silver lining. I glanced around the room at people’s response to this, Romanova and Barton make expressions of I-don’t-see-why-not alongside shrugs, but Stark didn’t look pleased at all.  
“We can’t risk her escaping.” Stark argued.  
“We can’t expect to keep her strapped to the bed - we have no idea how long it’ll take to get the information we need.” Countered Rogers. They argued back and forth for a few minutes and I watched the volley of harsh words back and forth over my head.  
“Ok children!” Called Romanova loudly. “Outside!” She declared, throwing her thumb at the door. Rogers and Stark eyed each other up stonily and then headed over to the door. Barton watched this with his eyebrows raised.  
“One moment.” Romanova promised with a raised finger and a smirk before she also went for the door, Barton following on behind. I watched them out the door and then let my head drop to the bed again in exhaustion.  
“They all mean well – even Tony.” Came a murmur from beyond my feet. My head shot up again – despite the ache - to find Dr Banner still fiddling away with the machines - I had almost forgotten he was in the room.  
“Yeah, well - It doesn’t feel like it…” I muttered bitterly, letting myself drop down to the mattress once again. I thought I heard a soft laugh from the doctor, but he didn’t say anything else and we both waited in companionable silence, me straining to hear the angry muttering outside.  
It wasn’t long before the gang returned, filing in like before. Stark was the last through the door, looking rather grumpy and ignoring me completely as he headed straight to Dr Banner and engaged in a quiet conversation. I chose to ignore him too and turned my attention to the other three that had resumed their previous positions around my bed. I looked at each of them expectantly.  
“Stark’s made some good arguments.” Romanova started, and I rolled my head away in annoyance.  
“But.” Started Barton. “We’ve talked him down on some points and made some compromises…” He winked at me again. “And he’s agreed to let you out of the restraints.” He told me. I couldn’t believe it! Finally, some good news! “But for now, we are going to have to keep you confined to this room – just till we can work out who you are.” Barton added quickly. I could feel my smile drop immediately. So close, but so far. “At least you’ll be able to move around a bit though.” He said, trying to show me the silver lining. I eyed him, looking for a sign that he wasn’t telling me something, but I found nothing.   
I nodded slowly both in understanding and acceptance. “Ok.” I mumbled. Barton gave me a comforting smile and then they set to work freeing me.  
Finally, the metal straps were removed, and quickly shoved myself upright, sick of being towered over. Every muscle protested and ached, my chest still sore from fighting the metal, and I rubbed at my red, raw skin around my wrists.   
Immediately I swung my legs around the side, determined to be on my feet so I would feel less vulnerable. I slipped off the bed before anyone could protest and nearly collapsed under my weak, wobbly legs. Stark caught me by a strong hand on my shoulder before I even realised he was anywhere near me. He roughly pushed me back up right but didn’t release my shoulder, pulling me in close and snarling in my ear.  
“I’m watching you. J.A.R.V.I.S is watching you.” I frowned at that - who? - “And that door will always be locked with someone on the other side.”  
“I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing.” I snapped back at him a glare and a small smirk.  
He growled at me and then sharply removed his hand before storming from the room. Romanova and Rogers watched after him in concern, but Barton looked like he was trying to hold back his laughter. He winked at me, mouthed ‘nice one’ and then followed after Dr Banner as they made their way out of the room.  
The other two followed shortly after, though Rogers paused at the door, turning back to me where I stood as the others filed out. “We’ll leave you to it for a bit, Nat will grab you some new clothes,” I looked down at myself and was sharply reminded that I was currently in what appeared to be a hospital gown. I thought I saw Roger blush a moment, “and we’ll bring you some food.” He added.  
I nodded silently in thanks and he nodded back with a small smile before he too disappeared through the doorway. I heard the lock in the door click into place.   
Looks like I was stuck in here again, but at least I could move now, I thought as I took a few steps to stretch out the my seized-up muscles. I guessed I was going to have to accept this situation for a while until I could work out how to either get them to trust me enough to leave, or find a way out on my own. All I knew was I needed to get back to familiarity and Ma’am.  
She’d be worried sick. And angry. Very angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really pleased to see so many people liking it already after only 2, rather brief chapters!  
> This one is quite a bit longer, but I'm afraid no Loki as you can see - don't worry I promise I'll make sure he's in the next chapter - the joys of making up a story as you go, you can promise anything and make it happen! haha
> 
> I really appreciate any comments you could leave! Praise or criticism is welcome. I survive off comments!  
> Hope you are Enjoying! x


	4. What the Storm Brings

Romanova came through and I was soon given a fresh pair of clothes – jeans and a red shirt – a plate of food, and pointed to bathroom I hadn’t previously noticed. I wasn’t sure what the food was, but when I asked, she told me they were pancakes – though she was definitely surprised that I hadn’t heard of them before. I imagined she would feed that back to the rest of the team.  
I was reluctant to touch the weird doughy food and I ignored my hunger, abandoning the plate by the door and returning to my usual activity of pacing the room restlessly. Occasionally I would stare out the window, watching the bizarre world go by below me – working out I was about 30 floors above New York City - and sometimes I would sneak a peek between the blinds that led into what I soon realised what an empty corridor. Stark was true to his word and there was always someone stood by my door. Currently it was unknown man who looked a bit like Barton. He looked bored.  
I could have tried to interact with the man through the door, but - despite what I told myself - I was exhausted, and my head was in a constant state of dull agony that meant I wasn’t much in the mood to chat – even if there was a chance I could charm my way out of this through the man. That could wait.   
I didn’t want to sleep either though. I was too on edge - I still didn’t really know where I was or whp these people were and it panicked me that I didn’t know what else was going on beyond these 4 walls.   
I also didn’t know what this ‘Jarvis’ was that Stark had threatened me with and I couldn’t help that praying on my mind. Was it someone else? The missing person? No hadn’t that been a Thor or something? Was it some sort of weapon or surveillance thing then?  
I let out a deep sigh - there was too many unknowns in this place for me to feel even remotely comfortable in my situation.  
So, I didn’t sleep, but pacing soon became tiresome and my legs began to protest until I gave in and allowed myself to sit with my back to the wall under the windows that led to the city - always ensuring I had one eye on the door at all times.   
The light in the room soon dimmed as night fell outside, but nothing changed in my prison, silence reined on apart the occasional machine beep or footsteps of people in the corridor as they changed shifts by the door.   
I could feel my resolve to stay awake weakening as the night wore on, the lack of light didn’t help my drooping lids, but I didn’t dare to turn the lights on - I didn’t want people to know I was up – I didn’t want to act suspicious.  
I rested my head wearily on my knees that were tucked up close to my chest, closing my eyes and feeling the lull of sleep as I hugged my legs.  
I was sharply woken out of my doze by a low, intimidating grumble on the horizon. My head shot up in surprise, wondering if I had imagined it. There was a few minutes of familiar silence, but then it sounded again, crashing and roaring around the tower, much louder and stronger than before. I couldn’t stop myself flinching at the deafening noise. The room feel silent again before there was a flash of light.   
There was less of a paused this time, whatever it was seemed to be getting closer, the noise louder, the light flashing almost directly after, lighting up the room for a brief second in a blinding flash before it fell into blackness again.   
The next time it happened the flash of light struck at the exact same time as the deep thundering crash sounded directly above me and the whole tower seemed to shake as though a huge monster had crashed directly into, shaking the very foundations of the building.  
I cowered into myself, not knowing what was going on. What was making that noise? Were the electrics faulty? Was the tower under attack? I prayed the tower and its inhabitants could handle and fight off whatever it was, though I put little trust in it.   
There was another, more powerful - wall and floor shaking - strike on the building and I couldn’t stop a whimper escaping my lips and I screwed my eyes shut and buried my face in my thighs as if that was going to hide me from this attack.  
But that seemed it. The rumbling noise above kept on, but it slowly faded away as the time dragged on and I stopped being so scared of it when the world no longer seemed to shake from it and there were no more blinding flashes.  
None the less, I was left with the overwhelming feeling that something wasn’t right and now I definitely refused to sleep, berating myself for giving in for even a second.   
There was something very weird about this place.

 

I was left alone in that room for 2 days without much contact with anyone else. I was given clean clothes and meals every day, but there was no need for people to talk to me - as they believe I held no useful information – so they left me to it.  
There weren’t any more weird rumbles from above, or flashing lights which I was glad of, but that didn’t stop me worrying about it reoccurring or something equally as horrible happening.  
I hadn’t slept at all - except for when I accidentally found myself drowsing for a few minutes if I sat down too long – and I instead I kept myself pacing to keep the drowsiness at bay.   
All day.   
All night.  
My legs were tired, and I was just gratefully that my stomach had got past the point of aching for hunger and was just had a numb empty feel. I refused to touch any of the food. Call it suspicious behaviour, I called it trying to avoid drugs or poison. Besides, nothing they gave me that they called ‘food’ was familiar to me, and I’d soon given up asking what everything was. I was just making people dubious about me. The food just made me dubious of them.  
None the less, my stubbornness was taking its toll on me and I could feel myself becoming weaker without my usual training and a lack of decent meals.  
On my third night in that cold medical room I listened to the familiar change of footsteps outside my door and did my usual check of the new guard through my blinds. I was hoping to find a pattern to the rota, but so far it was no good.   
The man that looked like Barton was back. Judging by his clothes – which looked to be some sort of jumpsuit uniform arrangement I seen on numerous men and women outside my door – I had decided that, unlike the other 5 I had been introduced to, these people must be just general guards - relatively unremarkable people.   
I didn’t bother to pay him much attention after I acknowledged it was him once more, and turned back to my pacing.  
I’d barely done 3 laps of the room before I froze mid-step. I thought I had heard a voice.  
I strained my ears. Nothing. Maybe I was hearing things? It was probably just one of the machines groaning or something. I continued my pacing.  
Then I froze again. Surely this time – That hadn’t sounded like a machine. It sounded like it came from the door. Was the guard talking? Who to?  
I crept silently back over to the window to my usual hiding place, peering through the blinds at the man. He was alone. In the exact same position as he was a moment ago.  
I was hearing things. That was it. Going insane in this little room of mine. Maybe I just really wanted to talk to someone that badly.   
I might not have any friends in my usual room, but at least people use to come in, and ma’am always use to speak to me, even if she only expected minimal responses from me.   
Just some interaction was enough for me. I guess I was just starved of attention or something.  
I was about to turn to away from the window when the man in front of the door suddenly turned and faced exactly where I had been, his gaze on the lower frame where I knew my head was just below. That was impossible. From my position he shouldn’t be able to see me - maybe I had moved carelessly and he’d seen something?  
I held impossibly still, watching the man, hoping he’d give up and turn back.   
It wasn’t that I thought I’d get in trouble for being seen, it was just – again – this did kind of scream suspicious behaviour and I wanted them to trust me enough to let me go.   
It was only as I begging for the man to look away or turn back around that he finally did and I whispered a silent thank you as I breathed a sigh of relief, I quickly ducking completely out of sight, before I then let myself collapse onto my ass, my tired legs giving way easily.  
“Are you always this quiet?” Any relief I felt vanished in a flash as I sat bolt upright at the voice. It sounded clear that time, as though the speaker was right next to me. I snapped my gaze around the room, searching for the person.   
There wasn’t anyone. It was the same empty room as always. Did this room have an intercom? I searched the walls for speakers.  
“I’ll take that as a yes…” Muttered the voice. It wasn’t coming from above me. It was coming from right next to me whether I liked it or not. I hastily got to my feet, trying to distance myself from whatever it was.  
I thought I heard the door click. Was it unlocked?   
“You know I tried talking to you twice…. You ignored me twice…” It drawled, bored and maybe slight offended, “Then you stare at me like I’m the crazy one.” Said the voice, echoing around the relatively empty room. Wait, stare at him?  
The door opened then, and the guard stepped in before he closed the door behind him without any apparent rush or care. I eyed him warily, every muscle tense.   
No one just walked in here. No one spoke to me.  
“What do you want?!” I demanded harshly, every nerve on the defence at this new threat.  
“Not too friendly, are you?” Asked the man with a sly, almost knowing look in his eye as he stepped closer.  
I didn’t like this man, but I was not going to let him intimidate me. I might not be as physically fit as I had been, but surely my mind was still up to scratch despite my exhaustion. I straightened up slightly, trying to relax my pose.  
“I asked what you wanted.” I repeated, trying to bite back my anger.  
The man smirked at me. “Oh, I was just bored…” He drawled, his gaze wandering around the room, with apparent interest.  
“And that gives you the right to come into my room?” I asked angrily with a raised eyebrow, crossing my arms.  
“You haven’t eaten.” He noted, his gaze on a plate that sat on a piece of equipment next to him by the door. It contained some odd dish that I had once again never heard of.   
I didn’t say anything to his obvious statement, just watching him, confused and very wary of this man. “And I’d hardly call this your room…” He added, looking around again, walking absently to a piece of equipment and fiddling with it without any apparent knowledge of what it would do – not that I knew either. “… It is, after all, the communal medical room… Open for anyone and everyone…” He said, flicking a wrist in a lazy gesture at the building.  
I was really starting to hate this man. “You’ve been guarding this room for the last 2 days,” I snarled at him, “Maybe you didn’t have the brains to realise you were guarding something – just following orders like a good mindless lackey to stand aimless outside an empty room – or maybe you didn’t realise that the lock on the door meant this room was occupied.”  
He smiled widely at me, taking no offense from my rudeness, instead finding it thoroughly amusing apparently.   
“Wow…” He breathed, “Quite a fiery temper you’ve got.” He observed with a smirk. I glared at him and couldn’t help wondering how hard it would be to take him out – clearly, he had a key on him to get through the door. He didn’t look that big.  
“Oh.” He chuckled with a devilishly grin. “I wouldn’t.”  
I frowned at him, “Wouldn’t what?”  
“Try and take me down.” He explained lazily, not looking at all concerned at my silent scheming. “It won’t work.” He told me, barely looking at me, more distracted by straightening his uniform.  
“Can you read minds now as well?” I snarled.  
He laughed lightly, “No,” He admitted, running a finger of a metallic box with a digital screen, “Just your expression.” He explained, lifting his head to look at me. “Your anger gives you away.” He told me deadly seriously.  
I scowled at him, his smirk and blasé comments really digging into me so the restraint I was using to stop myself lunging at the man was quickly running thin. I didn’t care about his empty warnings – he didn’t know me – he underestimated by abilities even in my weakened state.  
I don’t know what snapped in me – maybe the idea of the man thinking I was weak – but I dived at him suddenly, attempting to tackle him to the ground - hoping the contact of his head crashing into the floor would do most of the work for me in knocking him out - except I never tackled him.   
I didn’t even touch him.   
The moment I should have made contact with the man, his figure seemed to almost flicker for a moment and the next thing I knew I had passed straight through him, colliding heavily with the hard, tiled flooring on my own. I quickly turned over, propping myself up on my elbows, trying to ignore the pounding in the back of my skull of the scream of my bones where they had connected sharply with the ground. The man - though he continued to flick somewhat – now stood at my feet towering over.  
“Told you.” He said with a flickering grin. I glared at him and he flickered again and I saw it. His eyes. Previously a dark, unnoticeably colour, now flashed a startling green that was hauntingly familiar. Then, just like that, the man vanished altogether.   
I let out a choked breath I didn’t realise I was holding.   
Those eyes. Their terrifying familiarity.   
Flashes, of my nightmare a few nights ago crossed my mind – that familiar knowing smile I hadn’t immediately recognised - the man stepping closer, leaning over me as my fragile-self cowered away screaming ‘No!’.  
I could feel the cold sweat already forming on my skin and I pushed myself fully upright now, ignoring my aching muscles. Was that man – no. It couldn’t be. They looked nothing alike. Besides. It was a dream. Just a nightmare. Nightmares had no place in reality. And this was reality – as unlikely as that seemed sometimes – especially when men flickering men vanished into thin air.  
But this wasn’t my first time with magic. And that was what I was pretty sure that had been.   
Ma’am had magic. She thought I did too, but I didn’t - despite her persistence to train me.  
What should be more of my concern right now, though, was – if that man was real and not just an odd hallucination in my weakened state - whether he would tell the other people in the tower about my attempt to take him out and escape. That would practically confirm their suspected image of me as a criminal in league with this ‘Hydra’ and I’d be stuck in here forever, any plan of my escape completely blown.  
I dropped my head in exhaustion.   
My fate lay in the hands of that infuriating vanishing man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for those giving this fan fiction a go!  
> This chapter was born from me avoiding my revision and being unable to sleep as I had an exam in the morning!   
> As promised - 'Loki'! - sort of.... (Hopefully you got that? Otherwise I'm not that great a writer... haha)
> 
> Thanks for those who are commenting - I'd love to hear a bit more from you guys, but I get if you don't want to!  
> Let me know what you think?


	5. The Kitchen.

I had longer than I thought I would, to ponder the outcome of my meeting with the annoying vanishing man who I had attempted to tackle.  
All night in fact.  
It was the next morning when I heard the door mechanism click open once more. I had been staring down at the street at the dot-like people rushing back and forth for work and the traffic jam that had formed on a street corner. It was all a mundane life that I didn’t recognise.  
I immediately spun around when the door opened.  
Rogers.  
“Hi, Hannah.” He greeted, and I had to stop the flash of confusion from passing across my face. Right. I was Hannah. I’d almost forgotten. I nodded in a return greeting, and he didn’t seem to notice my almost-hiccup.  
“The team wants to have a little chat.” He told me, throwing a thumb over his shoulder into the corridor, “Do you mind coming with me.” He asked. The words sound ominous, but there was nothing about Roger’s behaviour that told me I was about to be condemned – but maybe that was just Rogers. I would continue to keep my wits about me, but I would follow him – I highly doubted I would have much of choice anyway, despite his question.  
I gave a slow unsteady nod in response and walked towards Rogers where he stood by the door. He stepped out of my way and watched me through the doorway. He kept a friendly face, but I could feel that his eyes didn’t leave me. Was that Stark’s doing, or did this man feel same suspicion of me deep down?  
The minute I was in corridor I felt slightly better. It felt good to be out of that miserable room – even if I was just in a blank empty corridor. Somehow it felt far more welcoming and I couldn’t help taking in a deep reassuring breath - I doubted the air was any different out here, but it just felt better.  
My situation quickly flooded back to me, though - despite my change in scenery - and I hesitated in the hallway, no idea where I was going. Rogers shot me a small smile as he stepped past me, before he then led the way down the corridor and I followed behind without hesitation.  
Here an opportunity had presented itself for me to make an escape. Rogers wasn’t letting me fall behind him for than a few steps, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t somehow sneak away or make a run for it before they sanctioned me here forever in that horrible room.  
Any of my hopes for escape were quickly crushed however, when it was all too clear to me how much of a maze this tower was. I was already lost after only a few turns and without knowledge of the buildings layout I was going to end up running around in circles if I slipped away, and it would be no time at all until someone managed to track me down and, I thought - looking at Rogers thick tree trunk arms – I didn’t think in my state I was going to be much of a match for one of them – let alone all 5 of my guards.  
Maybe if I pleaded that I never wanted to escape? That I only lunged at the man because he was annoying me? Would they believe me? Surely it was worth a shot? It was my only option at the moment it seemed.  
I didn’t have much time to come up with any other plans as we soon reached an elevator and silently rode a short distance downwards before the doors slid open to reveal a large open plan room.   
I couldn’t help my eyes widening at the sight of it as Rogers led me out of the metal box.   
The main things that held my attention were a collection of cushiony chairs of different sizes and lengths directly in front of me which were angled to face a huge screen on the wall that stuck out just to the left. There were four people on these chairs – Barton, Romanova, Dr Banner and a man I hadn’t seen before who was very heavily built – more so than Rogers – and had shoulder length blond wavy hair. Beyond these chairs there was a wall of floor to ceiling glass which looked out over the city. On second glance I noticed that one of these huge windows had glass double doors in them which led out onto a platform that seemed to be floating above the city. I tore my gaze away from this site, looking to my left now to a large table with chairs arranged around it and beyond that, the floor became tiled and there was an area that contained shiny surfaces, dirty plates piled by a sink and gleaming metal equipment that I had never seen before – and had no idea what they were used for. There was certainly nothing like it in my room.  
“What’s your problem, kid?” Scoffed Stark who had moved from the of the huge windows next to the large table and now stood in front of me. “Never seen a kitchen before?” He asked with a raised eyebrow and a cocky smirk that told me he was joking, but I honestly had no idea what he was on about.   
“A what?” I asked, bewildered.  
He scowled at me, looking for a sign I was joking. “A – A kitchen.” He tried again. When I continued to look confused he frowned. “You’re – You’re kidding right?” He asked, begging for me to prove I was just pulling his leg.  
I frowned back at him in confusion, not understanding the problem. Stark just looked at me blankly, before turning to the others in the room for help who simply shrugged at Stark’s lost look – none of them able to explain my weirdness apparently.  
I must have looked just as lost myself.  
Stark rolled his neck in exasperation, threw his hands up in surrender of the subject and walked away, back to his window, placing one hand on the glass and frowning down at the world below – probably still coming to terms with how I didn’t know what a ‘kitchen’ was.  
Suddenly a hand was on my shoulder and I glanced up at Rogers. He gave me a weak smile and then steered me towards everyone else that were lounging to different degrees on the chairs. All of them now had their attention on me as I approached – the long-haired man was the only one that didn’t seem overly bothered as he was eating his way through a large bag of something.  
Everyone looked to be friendly – but that only made me uneasy – were they trying to lull me into a false sense of security? I gave a weak smile back to them as Steve finally released his hand from me. I could feel the panic waiting on the borders of my mind, but I shoved it down and took the armchair offered to me by Barton as he got to his feet, freeing it for me. I nodded a thank you and perched on the very edge, unable to relax.  
Enough of the niceties I thought harshly, looking at each person in turn, just tell me what’s going on!   
“So….” Began Barton awkwardly, stood with his arms crossed and swinging his torso from side to side slightly as he looked at the rest of the gang. “You really don’t know what a kitchen is?” He asked suddenly his eyes on me.  
I was a bit taken aback by the question, but I quickly recovered shaking my head. “What is it?” I asked, my voice crackly from my silence up to this point.  
“Uh – just where – uh – where you make food, I guess…” Barton tried to explain, clearly uncomfortable about the explanation. I nodded, taking this in. I dropped my eyes to the thick woolly floor under my feet. It looked ridiculously soft and I was fitting the desperate urge to take my shoes off and dig my toes into the material.   
“So, Hannah.” Romanova started this time, leaning towards me and resting her arms on her knees, clasping her hands together. I shot my head up at my ‘name’ and I thought I noticed Dr Banner jump at my sudden action from where he was sitting out of the way on the other side of the room to me. Romanova shot him a quick look before returning her gaze to me, “We just wanted to double check that you haven’t suddenly remembered anything about your past at all…?” She said softly.  
I frowned at her. Was that it? That was why I was down here? Why couldn’t they just ask that in passing while handing me my meals? I paused, thinking if I wanted to tell them anything more. I shook my head. “No.” I croaked, dropping my head again. Despite having my head down though, I was acutely aware of where everyone in the room was and what they were doing. Except Stark. He was behind me and I didn’t like him in my blind spot.  
I noticed Romanova nod at this, though she slightly disappointed.  
I lifted my head to face her again. “Is that all you wanted from me?” I asked, unable to help myself – I wanted to know. I needed to know.  
Romanova shook her head. “Uh – no.” I frowned at this. Here we go, I thought. But she didn’t anything more for a moment, suddenly seeming to be taking a better look at me, drinking in my gaunt face and almost trembling limbs. “Are you feeling ok?” She asked in concern.  
I nodded, “Yes. I’m fine.” I said without blinking. I wasn’t to show weakness. I wasn’t to admit I was starving and exhausted. No weakness. No showing the enemy what they wanted to see. That’s what I knew.   
Romanova didn’t seem to believe my answer though, but none the less she seemed to let it go, sitting back slightly and glancing at the others briefly before turning back to me. “Right, well, we’ve agreed with Tony,” she nodded to the man who was still behind me. “That we’re going to move you out of the medical bay in case we need it, and we’re going to put you up in your own room.”  
I couldn’t have been more surprised.  
A rush of emotions flooded through me. I was relieved I wasn’t going back to that dreaded room, but where were they going to put me instead? Was this just an excuse to put me in a more permanent cell thanks to the incidence yesterday? Was there much I could do about it if it was?  
I realised Romanova was waiting for my response to this. I nodded. Was there anything else I could do really?  
She gave me smile. “Great.” She said, putting her hands on her knees. “You’ll be on the same floor as me, so I’ll take you there now.” She pushed off her hands and stood up, waiting for me to follow.  
We headed back the way I had come with Rogers to the elevator.  
“Same warning as before, kid!” Called Stark behind me and I shot a look over my shoulder at him. He had turned and was now eyeing me seriously as I walked across the room. I knew he was talking about the surveillance and I gave him a simple nod in response, as I continued forwards, entering the lift with Romanova.  
I held back the flinch I felt when the doors shut us in and we rode in silence, heading down once again - about 3 floors would be my guess. Romanova then led me a short distance down a corridor. “This is me.” She pointed out a door on her left. I remained silent and we continued on a bit further until she stopped again, this timing facing a door on the right. “This is you.” She said, gesturing at the door.  
Romanova looked at me pointedly and I realised she wanted me to open the door myself. I eyed her warily and then turned the handle and stepped in, Romanova following on, but pausing in the doorway - and I couldn’t help by wondered if she was specifically barring my exit.  
Any thought I had on the matter was quickly lost from my mind when I laid my eyes on the my new room and I just gaze around in wonder. There was a huge bed in the centre of the room, the headboard against the wall on my right, a door opposite me that probably led to an bathroom and, just to the right of it, a large window that made up a large proportion of the rest of the wall which looked out over the city.  
I took a step further in and realised the floor was made of the same cushiony stuff from the other room. That fact alone was enough to ridiculously cheer me up. It was sad, but in situation I was clutching at straws.   
“It’s not much.” Romanova’s voice made me jump, abruptly pulling me out of my stupor about the room, “it’s been empty for ages I almost forgot it was here.” She smirked slightly. “Tony’s got more rooms than he knows what to do with.” She lightly joked, probably hoping to relax me.  
“The bed is huge.” I mumbled, walking over to it, still feeling slightly dazed.  
“Uh – I guess.” Romanova said, and I could hear the slight puzzlement in her voice. “It’s just a double bed though - not a queen or anything.”  
“Queen?” I asked, not bothering to turn around, my hands feeling the incredibly soft duvet.  
“Uh – a – a really big bed.” Romanova explained. I was barely listening at this point, never having experienced this much luxury before.  
“Uh – yeah – like I said…” Romanova said, moving slightly further into the room, “You’ve just got the basics – bed, bathroom, wardrobe.” She listed, gesturing at each with a short flick of her hand. “Oh – and I’ve stocked the closet with a selection of clothes… Didn’t know what’d you want…” She trailed off looking around. “I think that’s it…” She mumbled to herself. “We’ll bring you meals as usual of course…” She added as an after-thought. I nodded along, not wholly paying attention.  
Romanova seemed to realise this, and she quickly said goodbye before she headed out, shutting the door behind me and I wasn’t at all surprised when I heard the familiar click of a lock falling into place.  
I didn’t care though that I was once again locked up, instead letting a huge grin spread across my face, as I immediately tossed my shoes off and dug my toes into the deep fibres of the floor, enjoying the softness on my sore feet. Without a second thought I then flung myself backwards onto the bed, bouncing slightly on the mattress as I engulfed myself with the thick cosy duvet.  
As a prison, this wasn’t half bad, I thought happily to myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!  
> I think that I know what is going on for the next 3 parts now, so thats good!  
> Also I promise Loki will be back in the next chapter!
> 
> If you liked it, I'd love a comment! :D


	6. Cartoons

The joy that the luxury of my new room brought me didn’t exactly last long.   
I was grateful for the new comfort, but it also only made me more painfully aware of how exhausted I was, and it did nothing to satisfy the hunger in my stomach. And I was still completely alone in a still very confusing and intimidating place.   
I could no longer tell if anyone was guarding my room, but it didn’t matter anyway – I had no way to get past the lock to begin with to be too concerned about what was on the other side.   
I soon gave up with trying to come up with an escape plan. My head wasn’t working well anymore – I just kept talking myself round in circles. Instead I watched the world outside my window or laid on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, trying not to think about my hunger, or my entrapment - though neither was very far from my mind. The minute my eyes began to droop I’d force myself from my bed and pace again.   
My room and the entire floor seemed to be completely silent – no more whirring machines or occasional beeps like my previous room – and I soon found the overwhelming silence almost pressing down one me and I occasionally had to force a sigh or a cough to relieve my ears.   
So, when there was a knock at my door a couple of days later it nearly made me jump out of skin.  
I immediately sat bolt upright from where I had been lying on my bed once more – I must have been so lost in thought that I hadn’t picked up on the footsteps down the corridor.  
“Hannah?” Called a gruff masculine voice. Barton? I heard the lock click open and then Barton was pushing the door open. I remained on the bed looking over at him in confusion, my heart still hammering away in my chest.  
“Fancy a break?” He asked with a twinkle in his eyes. I frowned at him in confusion. He sighed loudly at my lack of understanding and waved his hand, “Come on - thought you might like some entertainment.”  
Despite my apprehension, I was too intrigued by his proposal to not follow the man and he led the way out of my room and towards the elevator.  
“Tony’s out for the day,” Barton explained as we walked, stopping at the lift as he called it. “– and when Tony’s out, we play!” He grinned, shooting a wink down at me and I had to suppress the urge to giggle – something about this man’s good humour was infectious and it was kind of exciting to be out of the room.  
I bit my lip as we rode the elevator up to the few floors, the doors soon opening to reveal the same large open room I had been in only a few days earlier. It was almost empty - unlike last time – the only person in the room being the long-haired man who was leaning against one of the kitchen surfaces munching on something again. He raised a hand in greetings when we walked into the room.  
I looked at him cautiously, fully appreciating him now. He was bigger than I remembered and seemed to be wearing some weird armour-like clothing. It sharply reminded of the man in my nightmare - he had looked nothing like this giant, but his clothes were not dissimilar. It sent a jolt through me.  
“Oh, Thor, this is Hannah. Hannah – Thor.” Barton introduced us quickly, noticing my gaze, then moving around me where I had paused just inside the room, and heading across to the chairs.  
I hesitated a moment, my gaze staying on Thor as he gave me a friendly smile and a brief wave, before I then followed after Barton.  
“Uh – what are we doing?” I asked cautiously, stopping awkwardly by the chairs and looking around, paranoid I was about to be told off for being out of my room. But I was with Barton and Thor – so surely this was ok?  
“Uh…” Barton glanced around, searching for something. “Wanna just watch some TV?” He asked, “Gotta be better than sitting on your own in silence.” He noted.  
“TV?” I asked.  
“You’re kidding, right?” He asked, turning to me as I sat next to him on the long chair. I was sharply reminded of the kitchen incidence with Tony.  
“I’m afraid not.” I muttered, embarrassed.  
“Don’t worry, Lady Hannah!” Called Thor, having finished whatever he had been eating, and now wandering up to join us. “I had no idea what this contraption was when I first arrived either!” He explained falling heavily onto the cushions next to me and my tiny body bounced nearly off the sofa from the force. I wasn’t expected him to sit next to me – especially as the space available between me and the arm rest wasn’t the largest space – only just allowing him to fit and forcing him so close to me that our thigh were touching. I tried to shift away, but I couldn’t without moving just as close to Barton. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Almost literally.  
I swallowed thickly, every muscle tense at the unwelcome contact and the dwarfed feeling I had from being sandwiched between the two men. I wasn’t used to anyone in my personal space – no one ever touched me unless they had to. Thor looked completely unconcerned at most close proximity though, so I tried to ignore it. “So, wh-what is a TV?” I stuttered out.  
“This.” Said Barton simply, grabbing a small device and tapping a button. The huge screen in front of us flickered on and a video - something I soon found to be cartoons - started playing.  
It took me a while to warm to the TV - slightly confused whether I was supposed to be memorising or learning anything on the video that played out in front of me - but soon I realised it was purely for entertainment and I even let out a few small chuckles at the cartoon antics alongside Barton’s laughs and Thor’s deep chair-shaking guffaws.  
I noticed Barton cast a glance at my chuckle, then returned his gaze the screen, but not before I saw him give me a small smile.  
“You can relax you know, Lady Hannah.” Thor called from his relaxed position against the cushions behind me. I hadn’t moved since I’d sat down - still perched rather tensely on the very edge of the chair, my muscle barely having relaxed the entire time - so much so that they were starting to ache.  
I shot a glance back at him in confusion. “It’s just Hannah.” I said blankly.  
“Ok Hannah,” He nodded at my correction. “You can relax.” He repeated with a humoured smile. I frowned at him, unsure what he meant. Barton’s concentration was still mainly on the screen, but I saw him glance across at us. “You’re as stiff as Yggdrasil.” Thor pointed out to me, but this just made me even more confused and I glanced across at Barton for help at this new word. He just shrugged back – equally confused by the term.   
I turned back to Thor in puzzlement. He chuckled at my look, grabbing at my closet arm to him with one of his large hands. I flinched at the contact, but Thor didn’t seem to notice, and he pulled me backwards until I rest against the thick plushie cushions that made up the back of the long chair – something I had been told was called a ‘sofa’.  
I kept my eyes on Thor the whole time he moved me, but he didn’t seem to care. Once I was sat back he looked down at me, “Better?” He chuckled. I didn’t say anything, and he gave me a smile, happy with his work, before he turned his attention back to the screen.  
It was better - apart from I was now pretty much completely leant up against the huge man. I flinched when he lifted his next to me, but he simply draped it over the back of the sofa behind me, his attention never leaving the screen and – when he didn’t move again – I finally felt myself begin to relax.  
Despite the size of my companions I didn’t feel at all threatened by them and my giggles slowly became louder and more confident - especially when I knew they would be drowned out by Thor’s booming laughs next to me.  
I was, in fact, feeling rather content, rather wishing this moment wouldn’t end, but of course it did, and it ended with the sound of the elevator arriving on our floor.  
I immediately shot upright at the familiar ping - quickly being thrown out of my bubble of happiness as the real world came crashing down around me - and my eyes shot to the doors as they opened.   
A man stepped into the room and I was on my feet the minute I recognised him.  
“You!” I cried before I even gave it a second thought. I was across the room faster than I thought was possible in my weakened state and I had the man pinned against the wall with my arm over his throat before I had truly registered what I was doing. I just knew I wasn’t letting him go anywhere – he wasn’t going to vanish again.  
“Hannah!” I heard Barton cry, but something was roaring in my ears and I found it all too easy to ignore him. The man beneath my arm struggled under my weight, but this just, but this just made me push down ever harder, causing him to gasp for air.  
Suddenly large rough hands grabbed my waist and tugged me back. I fought against the arms that held me, but I was no match for the strength I was being pulled and I soon found myself being easily lifted off the ground and moved backwards, leaving the vanishing man collapsed against the wall next to the elevator, choking for air.  
Barton rushed to his side to help him up, asking if he was ok and turning to me as soon as the man was able to nod.  
“What are Earth was that all about?!” He demanded in surprise.  
I squirmed in Thor’s grip hopelessly until I was forced to give up - the adrenaline in my system running out fast and my body quickly reminding me of how exhausted I was.   
I let myself fall limp. “He – he came in my room…” I gasped, out of breath.  
“What?!” Barton shot an angry glance at the man who quickly raised his hands in surrender, and I was glad to see Barton was so ready to take my side. “When?!” He demanded turning back to me, and I immediately regretted thinking he was on my side.  
“When I was in the medical bay.” I panted.  
Barton frowned at me. “Thor, put her down.” He said, gesturing with his hand.  
I felt myself being lowered to my feet, but Thor’s presence behind me didn’t move and he remained only inches behind me – probably in case I lunged again.   
I tried to get my breath back. “Right.” Barton said, trying to get a handle on the situation. “Hannah. Explain everything.” Barton ordered, folding his arms and remaining an obstacle between me and the still-gasping guard.  
I had to stop myself from cowering under Barton’s steely gaze - reminding myself I hadn’t done anything wrong.   
Apart from tackle a guard.   
Twice.   
Well, attempted to anyway…  
So, I explained what happened – despite the guard’s constant attempt to interrupt and deny my accusations. I left out the whole part about hearing voices when no one was around – thinking that might be too weird – and I strongly emphasised the fact that I had tackled the man because he had annoyed me to the point I had snapped – no other reason. “- but…” I trailed off looking at the floor, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.  
“But?” Pushed Barton seriously.  
“But when I jumped at him - I - I went straight through him.” I admitted.  
Barton raised an eyebrow at me. “Come again?” He asked.  
“He – he sort of flickered,” I tried to explain, “and – and then he vanished and then when I saw him again he was standing over me…” I explained. “It was like magic… I – I don’t’ know what happened…” I trailed off quietly remembering what Ma’am always use to say – few other people knew about magic and most thought it was an insane idea driven up by lunatics. I must sound crazy – even crazier than not knowing what a kitchen was – or a TV.  
To my surprise though, Barton seemed to be seriously considering, his eye on the floor just in front of him.   
He turned back to the man. “Were you supposed to be on duty that night?” He asked calmly, but with a definite authority in his voice.  
“No, sir! I swear I wasn’t there! It wasn’t my shift till the following afternoon!” The guard exclaimed desperately.  
“Whose shift was it?” Barton asked.  
“I don’t know! Honestly! I don’t even remember seeing a name!”  
Barton turned to face me again, but his eyes didn’t meet mine, instead they looked over my head to Thor. “Go get him.” Was all he said. Thor must have nodded or something, and then be suddenly stepped around me and headed to the elevator without another word. I was left alone and confused in the middle of the room.  
Barton sighed heavily looking between me and the man by the wall who seemed to have recovered from his ordeal, but was still looking quite petrified.  
“Why were you here?” Barton asked the man.  
“Just – uh – dropping these off.” He handed over a pair of keys to Barton who took them.  
“Probably best that you leave now.” Barton nodded a door just down from the lift. The guard didn’t need to be told twice and he gave a sharp nod before scurrying from the room.  
Great. He was just allowed to walk free. So much for justice on my part, I should have knocked the guy out when I had the chance. Barton must have seen the expression on my face because he pointed at the door the guard had just vanished through. “That is not the man you have a bone to pick with.” He said.  
I glared at him. “Yes it was!” I exclaimed angrily, “That was the man that was guarding my door – that was the man who entered my room!” I cried.   
Barton held up his hands up at my temper. “Just calm down.” He soothed quietly, gesturing lightly with his hands and I tried to get my temper back under control. Barton could see my effort and he nodded at it. “Come on, let’s take a seat.” He murmured, gesturing to the chairs behind me and heading towards them. I defiantly stay where I was, not in the least bit happy. “Hannah.” He repeated, a little firmer. I rolled my eyes and followed after him, both of us resuming our previous seats on the large sofa.   
My temper slowly ebbed as I sat there in silence, and I was left with the cold hard truth that I may have just put my foot in it by attacking that guard. Surely, they would lock me away for good now? It was clear whose word they believed more - they’d let the damn man go!  
And to think I’d almost been enjoying myself…  
Me and Barton sat in silence for a few minutes – me wallowing in self-pity and Barton picking at his sleeve - until the elevator pinged, and my head shot up to see Thor stepping through the doors. He was roughly shoving a person in front of him. The man seemed to have been trying to reason with the Thor, but now he was in the room he turned to face us. I gasped loudly, hastily shoving myself backwards across the cushions until I felt myself collide sharply with Barton behind me, wincing at the contact.  
Barton frowned down at me in confusion, placing a hand of comfort on my shoulder when saw the fright in my eyes. “So, you know each other?” He asked, shooting a rather intense look of loathing at the man in front of Thor.  
“In my defence,” Said the black-haired man, holding up one hand, “I’ve never actually met her.” He explained innocently. “Well… Not like this…” He smirked, gesturing at himself.   
I looked at him properly now. He looked the exact same as I had seen in my nightmare - except without the tall, horned crown or the staff. The rest of him was the same though – the same green, black and gold armour - similar in design to the man behind him - the same shoulder length hair that was slicked back out of his face, though it looked a bit ruffled now – probably from Thor rough handling him a bit to get him here - and the same green eyes I remembered so well, twinkling mischievously even now.   
“Then how does she know to do the smart thing and run when she sees you, hmm?” Asked Barton, still not removing his grip on my shoulder.  
The man shrugged, “I honestly don’t know.” He admitted. “Maybe Midgardians are getting smarter?” He suggested with a cheeky curve of his lips. I saw him wince and I realised Thor had one of the man’s arms twisted up behind his back. He must have just tugged it tighter.   
That almost made me want to smirk right back in the raven-haired man’s smug face.  
“Hannah?” Barton’s voice called my attention back, “How do you know Loki?” He asked, clearly seeing he wasn’t getting anywhere with the other man.  
Loki? So that was his name. I thought the name suited him somehow.   
“A-a dream.” I croaked, not dropping my eyes from this ‘Loki’. He smirked at me. “Th-The day I arrived – I kept passing out…” I explained, “One time I dreamed - And I dreamed of him,” I said, addressing all this to Loki’s face, unable to tear my gaze away though I wanted to. “I was on my bed and – and he stalked towards me and then threatened me with – with a staff…” I trailed off lamely. Great I sounded crazy again.   
I hadn’t meant to explain the dream, but for some reason I had.  
Barton had frowned down at me as I recalled my dream, now that I was finished he patted my shoulder comfortingly. “Well he won’t threaten you here.” He promised firmly to me, squeezing my shoulder. He then stood up from the sofa, leaving me alone on the cushions. “But that’s not why we brought the snake here…” He growled, getting back to the matter at hand.   
Barton was now glaring stonily at Loki, but the raven-haired man couldn’t seem any less concerned.  
“So, tell me Loki…” Barton asked, stepping towards the man, his arms crossed. “Did you, or did you not, impersonate an agent and enter the medical bay which was – at the time – out of bounds to the likes of you?”  
Loki held up his one free hand in surrender, dipping his head to the side slightly. “I did.” He admitted – looking almost proud of himself with a small smile on his face and a glimmer in his eyes.   
“Care to explain why?” Asked Barton, uncrossing one arm and causally flicking his wrist. He seemed relaxed, but it wasn’t hard to see anger burning dimly in the man’s eyes.   
Loki shrugged nonchalantly, “I was bored.” He admitted, “And I was wondering what you were hiding from me…” He drawled. He let out a light chuckle. “I really don’t see what the problem is here.” He exclaimed.  
Suddenly Loki’s eyes screwed up and I could see his jaw tense as purse his lips together. I guessed Thor had just tightened his grip on Loki’s hidden arm. I now watched as the large blonde-haired man bowed his head slightly and seemed to mutter something in Loki’s ear.   
“The problems here are numerous.” Continued Barton coldly. “Not only did you impersonate a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, but you then terrorised this poor girl until she felt the need to attack you – which I’m sure didn’t take much.” He added, sending a wink over his shoulder at me. Loki scowled at this.   
“Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t just my irritancy that made the lady retaliate…” Purred Loki shooting a knowing look directly at me. I could feel go red. That was right. This was the man that knew. He knew I wanted to escape. But he hadn’t told anyone – if he then I wouldn’t be stood here now, I’d be locked up in a cell somewhere permanently.   
Why hadn’t he told anyone?  
Barton ignored Loki’s last comment – probably writing its off as another of Loki’s tricks. “Thor, I suggest we confine Loki to his room - as that’s the closet thing I can get to a cell – and remove his mission privileges.” Barton said. “God knows no one’ll miss him.” He muttered.  
“Agreed.” Rumbled Thor, and then began to manoeuvre Loki back to the elevator. As Thor went to turn him around, Loki bowed his head at us in parting and – before disappearing in the metal box – I swore the man shot a wink at me. But when I thought back on it, it had probably just been my imagination.   
Barton returned to his seat next to and apologised numerous times for Loki’s actions - even seeming to take responsibility for the nightmare. I brushed his apologies aside though, my head feeling very heavy and my mind still reeling with everything that happened in the last few hours.  
“Maybe we should get you back to your room,” Suggested Barton eventually, “Tony’ll probably be back soon and I don’t want to get grounded again.” He grinned at me. I smirked slightly at this – only having learnt what 'being grounded' was from the cartoons earlier - and nodded in agreement, letting Barton escort me back to my room, feeling more exhausted than I thought possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, so I have no life today and I’ve basically sat on my laptop since about 11am this morning (its now 11:18pm) - hence the reason I have managed to churn out 3 parts to this series today (technically the first one was 2/3rds done already).   
> For some reason I’m just really excited about writing at the moment - especially this series!
> 
> Anyway…. hope you enjoy it! (I'm a bit worried it's not great because I had to make myself reread several lines because I think I was falling asleep! haha)
> 
> Loved to know what you think!


	7. Bedside Guard

I heard the lock click into place behind Barton, and then listened as his footsteps moved off down the hall back towards the elevator.

I let myself fall back on the bed in exhaustion, briefly allowing my eyes to close as I relaxed into the comfort of my own solitude once more, enjoying the full extent of my own uninterrupted personal space.

Barton was nice – Thor seem so too – but I still wasn’t wholly comfortable around them – even after pushing quite a few of my boundaries with the today - and I was still unsure whether they were supposed to be my enemies or not.

I wished Ma’am was here to tell me…

I woke up 15 minutes later, immediately shooting myself upright and momentarily confused where I was or what was going on. The light in my room was receding fast as the sun set beyond the skyscrapers outside my window, and I threw myself to my feet, cursing myself for falling asleep for even a few minutes. It wasn’t something I could afford right now. There were too many other things I needed to think about.

Like that man. That ‘Loki’.

Why had he come into my room that day? Barton had said he’d in fact been banned from that room. Loki had simply said he was bored and curious about me. So that was why he had wound me up until the point I tried to tackle him?

More importantly – how did he do it? Was it really magic? Was there someone in the building that could do magic like Ma’am? Did Loki use magic to turn into the guard? That’s what everyone seemed to think. But then he’d just vanished. More magic?

“Clearly.” I mumbled bitterly at my slow mind. I needed sleep. Desperately. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. Especially not now.

I thought through all of this as I paced back and forth across my room, feeling something building in me, panic? Fear? Anger? Stress? I didn’t know - and it only made me pace more.

“Will you please go to sleep.” Came an annoyed voice from behind me.

I covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from shrieking, instantly turning around to find the Loki stood by the door.

I backed up immediately, putting as much space between us as possible, sharply reminded of the nightmare and now with no Barton or Thor to come to my aid.

“W-What are you doing here?” I demanded angrily - though my voice was too shaky to sound very intimidating.

“Asking you to go to sleep…” Loki drawled, taking a few steps further into the room and leaning forward as he did so, narrowing his eyes at me in confusion. “I thought that was obvious with me – you know – asking.” He sneered.

My mind was still too paralysed with the shock of his sudden appearance out of nowhere – which I had quickly put down to magic again - and fear of the dark-haired man to really take note of his snarky attitude. Loki seemed to realise this, and he straightened up again, cocking his head to the side. “Hm, you really are petrified of me, aren’t you?” he asked with interest.

I didn’t say anything, but my silence just seemed to confirm this to him. He smirked at me, giving a small shrug, seeming quite proud of this fact. “Huh.” He laughed, “It’s almost a shame that I wasn’t actually there.” He muttered, walking further into the room, seeming quite content, each step slow and deliberate, one hand under his chin in a thoughtful expression as he gazed around the relatively plain room.

“So, it wasn’t just another… magic trick of yours?” I asked quietly from where I had pressed myself against the wall furthest from him, next to the large window.

Ever since I’d worked out he could do magic it made me wonder if he’d purposely entered my dreams to torture me – I knew it was possible, Ma’am had told me, promised I’d be able to do it one day. I didn’t believe her.

Loki perked his head up when I spoke, his back was to me and he glanced over his shoulder to me, eyebrows raised, “Trick?” He repeated, he let out a short huff of laughter, “No.” He dismissed with a flick of his hand, turning to face me now. “I didn’t even know who you were until – well you know…” He trailed off.

I frowned in confusion and he sighed loudly at my slowness. “The medical bay?” He asked me impatiently and I suddenly understood, nodding at him to show this.

Loki rolled his eyes at me in annoyance. Clearly, he didn’t appreciate my poor cognitive ability.

I suddenly remembered something.

“Aren’t you supposed to be confined to your room?” I pointed out with a frown.

He let out a short ‘Ha’ of laughter at this, “In principle.” He told me with a smirk. “But my brother and his friends have yet to establish anything in my room to keep my magic contained,” He explained, “so until then – no.” He said simply with a cocky smirk.

“Brother?” I asked alarmed. There were two of them?!

“So, no one told you?” Loki asked with a short laugh. He’d wandered over to my bed at this point and now threw himself down onto it lazily, stretching his long legs out and crossing them at the heel, simultaneously folding his arms behind his head. The picture of relaxed. “That blonde oath who was twisting my arm earlier is my brother.” He told me.

“Thor?!” I exclaimed in surprise.

Loki nodded at this, “The Thunder God himself.” He declared throwing his hands in the air, and wiggling his fingers in unenthused excitement before then rolling his eyes looking anything but thrilled.

“Thunder God?” I asked, confused.

Loki frowned at me across the bed where I still stood pressed up to the wall by the window. He opened his mouth as if to explain, then thought better and shook his head. “Don’t worry.” He muttered tiredly.

I eyed his stretched-out figure with a certain amount of confusion and wariness. Despite the nightmare, this man didn’t strike me as scary and I was finding it difficult to match him to the man I had dreamt about – especially when he was lounging on my bed.

Loki had closed his eyes now, and looked at peace on the cushiony bed so I let my eyes roam over him without risk of being caught.

He was still in the same lightweight leather armour as he had been in earlier with high black boots and his dark green cloak now slightly crumpled between him and the bed. I noted how pale his skin was, which only emphasised his long black eyelashes and dark which was now slightly fanned out over one of my pillows.

“Enjoying the view?” He asked suddenly, not opening his eyes.

I jumped at his voice, almost thinking he had fallen asleep or something and felt my cheeks grow hot at being caught staring at him - though I wasn’t sure how he knew. Probably magic again, I huffed to myself.

“W- What are you doing in here?” I asked, unsure what else to say, but sure I had to say something.

His eyes snapped open, and he sighed impatiently again, before pushing himself up right again. “For the last time.” He grumbled, “I am here to ask you to go to sleep.” He said each of the last words slowly as though to make sure they were truly getting into my head. 

“Why do you care if I sleep?” I scowled – not appreciating being thought of as stupid.

“I don’t.” Loki said simply, getting to his feet now and turning to face me. “But…” He continued, bowing forward slightly as he spoke, “I cannot hope to concentrate with your excessive pacing.” He explained, holding his hands out as though to say it was just that simple.

“How is my pacing disturbing you?!” I demanded with a frown, definitely more annoyed then scared of this man now.

“My room is two floors directly below here.” He told me, pointing at the floor. “Though I may not be able to hear you,” He sneered, “Your energy is unearthly loud and incredibly vibrant… - I’m guessing it takes after your little temper.” He teased, seeing the annoyance in my eyes.

No, I thought to myself, I wouldn’t let him goad. He wasn’t going to win again. I swallowed any anger back down. “I apologise if I have distracted you in anyway.” I said calmly. “I will endeavour to ensure I stay in place from now on.” I informed him.

He frowned at this. “Why don’t you just sleep?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” I retorted defensively.

Loki shrugged, “I don’t need much sleep.” He admitted. “I prefer to spend the few silent hours of the day thinking.” He told me. “Something my brother rarely does, which is why he sleeps like a log.”

At that, there was a low rumbling noise – something I was slowly becoming used to – and we both smirked knowing exactly what it was. Thor snoring.

We fell into silence after that. I looked anywhere but at Loki, but I could feel his eyes on me the whole time, studying me. I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, my legs aching from where I’d been pacing for at least an hour.

“You never answered my question.”

I snapped my head back up. “What?” I asked, surprised when Loki had spoken.

He rolled his eyes at me again, but he didn’t seem as annoyed this time. “I asked you why you weren’t sleeping, and you never answered me.” He stated, looking at me expectantly.

I sighed heavily, too exhausted to fight him on it or come up with an excuse. “Because I can’t.” I said.

“Can’t or won’t?” He asked with a raised eyebrow and a look in his eye which said he knew I was hiding something.

“Shan’t.” I said.

He raised an eyebrow at me, unimpressed with my answer. “Why not?” He pushed.

I let a loud huff of exasperation at his persistence. “I don’t know!” I cried, throwing my hands in the air in frustration, the strain of keeping everything to myself quickly becoming too much for me in my current state. “Maybe it’s the weird tower I’m locked in!” I cried, “Or it’s the fact the building shakes and the lights flash! Or maybe it’s the bunch of strangers holding me here against my will!” I cried manically, feeling water on my cheeks, “Or,” I let out a shaky, hysterical laugh, “maybe it’s the fact that I don’t know anyone - can’t trust anyone – that I can’t even dare to close my eyes in case something happens!” My voice broke then, and I buried my face in my hands as I felt myself completely come undone after the close to a week of no food or sleep and basically having my whole existence be thrown upside down.

I sobbed into my palms, my limbs shaking under the weight of my body. In the back of my mind I was vaguely embarrassed about falling to pieces in front of Loki, but I couldn’t find the energy in myself to care and I was pretty sure he’d probably just leave me to have my little breakdown.

Then I suddenly I felt a cool hand on my back I flinched slightly at the touch.

“Nothing is going to happen to you.” I heard Loki murmured almost gently in my ear, his breath fanning across my skin.

“Oh yeah?!” I lashed out, jerking my head up from my hands to look at him accusingly. “How do you know?!” I demanded before I fell back into sobs and buried my face once more. Now my tears had started I couldn’t seem to stop and my emotions were freely pouring out alongside.

Loki didn’t seem the least bit phased by my temper and I couldn’t tell if I wanted him to stay with his hand on my back or finally get fed up and leave.

“Ok,” Loki murmured calmly, his hand moving ever so slightly on my back and my body shivered at the feeling, the slight motion somehow soothing my frazzled nerves. “What if I stay up on guard whilst you sleep?” He suggested calmly, his face still close to mine, but I didn’t care about my personal space anymore.

“Why should I trust you?” I mumbled into my hands between racking sobs.

“Mutual benefit.” He stated simply, and I could feel him shrug next to me. “You get to sleep – which you clearly need to –“ He stated, “and I get to sit and concentrate in peace - which I would definitely like to do.”

I pulled my face from my hands again – knowing I must look a complete state – and looked into his face. He was watching me expectantly waiting for an answer.

I was trying to find a reason to say no, but I desperately wanted to say yes.

I was thankful when he got fed up of waiting for an answer and took matters into his own hands, slipping his hand from my back and grabbing my arm, tugging me towards the bed.

“Lie down.” He ordered, releasing me and pointing at the bed. I hesitated a moment, but did what I was told, not bothering to get under the covers, simply lying out on the top of the thick duvet.

Loki said nothing to this and my eyes followed him as he moved around the bed and perched next to me on the other side of the mattress. I felt very exposed lying down whilst he towered above me – even if he was sitting.

He glanced over at me, noticing me watching him.

“You have to close your eyes to sleep.” He teased me, but there was something serious in his eyes – and perhaps almost caring.

I turned, curling into a foetal position, facing him. “Don’t leave.” I mumbled in a final moment of weakness.

His response to this was to push himself further on the mattress, resuming a similar position to the one he had taken on my bed earlier, propping his back against the head board and crossing his long legs at the ankle as he stretched them across the bed covers. He finally crossed his arms over his chest and then looked at me pointedly.

I couldn’t help smirking at this - hiding it in the pillow so I was pretty sure he couldn’t see - and then I finally gave in and closed my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have done the impossible! Not only did I write the whole of Slow Dance today, but I also did this! (If I fail my exams you know why ;) )
> 
> I’m not sure how I feel about this part and I’m a bit worried about it - so I’d love to know what you think. I’m not sure it’s great - but that might just be because I’m tired. I probably shouldn’t have written Slow Dance and this on the same day because now I need to get back into the mindset of this story and that might be whats wrong with it… but oh well… Hopefully it works…  
> Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think if you can!


	8. Breakfast in Bed.

I woke up slowly, my head feeling groggy and every part of me ridiculously stiff. I lay facing the window in my room and I could see the daylight creeping through any cracks it could find between the thick drapes.

I frowned - I didn’t recall closing them last night.

I pushed this thought from my mind, rolling onto my other side, away from the light, and letting out a small groan as my muscles protested against the movement.

The space next to me was empty and it took a while for my slow mind to click that it shouldn’t have been. The minute it did, I shot upright in a panic, feeling the duvet slip from my body to pool around my hips.

I scanned the room for Loki – hoping he had just moved position – but there was no sign of him in the room.

I immediately felt betrayed.

Why on Earth did I think I could trust him? My exhausted mind had been unable to see past his lies and been to desperate to want to believe them. Of course, he had just convinced me to fall asleep, and then just up and left! Why wouldn’t he?!

I pulled my knees to my chest, hugging myself tightly, and felt the duvet slip further off me. I suddenly frowned to myself again. I hadn’t got under the duvet last night – just fallen on top of it – so how did I end up under it?

“Ah, the princess finally awakes!” I snapped my head to the door where Loki had suddenly appeared like he had the night before - a smirk on his face.

I glared at him “You lied to me.” I accused immediately, my voice croaky from sleep.

“Excuse me?” He asked, his smirk dropping as he shook his head slightly in confusion.

“You left.” I snarled angrily. “You promised you wouldn’t, but you did!” I couldn’t believe he actually had the nerve to appear in my room again.

He raised his hands in mocking defence of my temper, taking a step forward. “My apologies,” He said almost sounding sincere, “But I couldn’t exactly spend the whole day in here.” He pointed out,

“All day?!” I repeated. I slept a whole day?!

Loki nodded. “I knew my brother was bound to check-up on me eventually,” He explained, “so I kept an eye on him – leaving when I had to.” He said, “You also had numerous visitors bringing you food,” He gestured to a tray sat on a small table by the door that held a - now presumably cold - plate of something. “So, I also made myself scare at those times as well.” He told me, “But I promise you – I other than those events I have mentioned I did leave the confines of this room.” He swore, placing a hand to his chest.

I eyed him suspiciously, “Where were you a minute ago, then?” I asked, still not content, but also painfully aware I had no real right to demand Loki to stay in my room if he chose not – apart from the fact that he had promised to.

Loki frowned at me and it suddenly hit me how invasive the question was.

“I – I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that.” I mumbled sheepishly, dropping my gaze.

He studied me for a moment then just shrugged. “I was sleeping.” He told me, “I might not need much sleep, but I still do need some.” He said, sounding rather unpleased about this part of his makeup.

“You could have just slept here.” I pointed out with a frown – compared to his other, rather reasonable, excuse, this one didn’t sound good enough to me to justify breaking his promise.

He raised an eyebrow at this suggestion. “And you’d have been ok with that?” He asked in surprise.

“Well – yeah, why not?” I frowned at him, not understanding what he meant by that.

“Well –“ Loki’s face seemed to colour slightly and he dropped my gaze for the first time. “- it’s just – I didn’t think it was polite to assume…” He muttered.

“To assume what?”

Loki’s eyes met mine again, his brow crinkling in a frown and he seemed to be trying to work out if I was joking – not able to believe the innocence my words were conveying.

“That you would find it acceptable for me to sleep in your bed…” He said slowly, searching my face for any recognition of what he was talking about, but my face remained blank. “- with you.” He added.

“Oh… right…” I trailed off, nodding my head and looking away – though I was still completely lost as to what he was talking about. I’m pretty sure Loki could see this, and I could feel his eyes on me, whilst I fiddled with a loose thread on the duvet, refusing to meet his eyes now.

“I apologise if I have hurt you by leaving.” Loki mumbled gently.

I didn’t say anything, keeping my eyes on the thread between my fingers. All he’d done was remind me that I couldn’t trust anyone here. For that I was almost grateful. Plus, I had slept which now meant I felt much more refreshed and would hopefully see me for another week if I pushed myself. Now if only I could get some food somehow, to satisfy my caving stomach and rev up my energy again.

“When was the last time you ate?” Loki suddenly asked, and I snapped my gaze up to him with a frown - having to wonder if he had lied to me when he said he couldn’t read minds.

I dropped my eyes to my hands again and simply shrugged in answer.

“Have you eaten at all since you’ve been here?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head and I could almost feel his eyes roll at me

Loki fell silent and I wondered if he’d actually left the room.

“Same reason?” He finally asked, his quiet and almost soft.

I let my eyes find him once more, now seeming closer before, though I hadn’t noticed him move. His eyes probed me for an answer.

I knew what he meant. Was I not eating for the same reason I had refused to sleep?

I gave him a small, nod “Yes.” I croaked, and for some reason I was felt embarrassed at the confession.

He simply nodded, not seeming to notice my embarrassment. I noticed his eyes flicker to the door for a moment before they closed, and he let out a quiet sigh of annoyance. When he opened his opened his eyes again they were like directly at me, green and deadly serious. “Stay here.” He commanded, then he was gone.

I looked at the now-empty spot that he had been stood in only a moment ago and wondered where he had suddenly disappeared to, and where on Earth he thought I go when I was locked in the room.

I was jerked back to reality when there was a knock at the bedroom door. I quickly scrambled off the bed and stood alert as the door was opened to reveal a guard I didn’t know with yet another plate of pancakes in their hand. They nodded in a brief, silent greeting, then removed the cold plate of last night’s dinner from the table by the door, and replaced it with the pancakes before they nodded again and departed.

I felt myself instantly relax the minute the lock clicked closed again.

“You are tense, aren’t you?” Came Loki’s voice from behind me and I jumped spinning around to find him now stood by the window.

“Will you please stop doing that!” I scowled at him.

“My apologies, next time I shall somehow announce myself as I magically appear.” He muttered sarcastically. “It does kind of defeat the object of sneaking around though.” He teased, a twinkle in his eye.

I beat down the smirk pulling at my lips and scowled at him instead, returning to my previous seat on the opposite side of the bed to where he stood. I leant back against the headboard, crossing my legs and folding my arms as I watched him warily with a frown. Had he left because of the guard? Why was he back?

When Loki began to move I watch his every movement as he walked around the foot of the bed, heading to the door. He stopped near the plate of food and glanced across at where I sat.

“Still not going to eat?” He questioned with a raised brow.

I shook my head.

“Not even if I promised to stay in the room?” He teased light-heartedly, though I thought I could see something more serious beneath the joke.

“It’s not you I don’t trust…” I muttered, before I realised what I had just said and immediately dropping my eyes his, but not before I saw the wide grin that split his face.

“So, you trust me, do you?” He teased, his voice one of surprise and… perhaps pride?

“I didn’t say that.” I muttered defiantly.

“You basically did.” He pointed out, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

I didn’t say anything more, just scowled at my lap.

Loki paused for a moment, and I shot a glance over at him. He seemed to be studying the plate of pancakes, deep in thought.

“If I agree to eat the food with you,” He started, his eyes catching mine, no trace of taunting in his voice now, “will you eat?” He asked almost gently.

I watched him carefully. He looked sincere – I couldn’t see anything in his face that would suggest this was a trick in anyway, but did that mean anything really? I debated this. How could he turn this into a trick - if he ate these ‘pancakes’ along with me then surely anything that would happen to me, would also happen to him… Therefore, if I trusted him to do this, he must thrust them to not have done anything.

Eventually I gave him a slow nod.

He smiled briefly at my answer, then picked up the tray of food and brought it over to where I sat, placing it on the bed in front of my cross legs. He then perched across from me, close to the food of the bed, producing a fork out of thin air and scooping up a small bite, eating it without any hesitation.

I eyed the plate warily. The ‘pancake’ did look quite an appetising food, but I could still feel nerves churning inside me at the thought of finally eating the odd food.

Loki took another bite and then gestured at me to do the same.

I reached for the fork that sat next to the plate, but I faltered, glancing up at the tall man. “What if you’re using magic,” I pointed out, “or have some sort of anti-toxin or –“

“Stop over thinking it,” He growled sternly, “- and just eat.”

I might have argued more, but the smell of the warm sugar was reaching my nose now and quickly overwhelming any of my fight - I was starving.

I finally picked up the fork and took a bite, relishing in the almost sweet pain of finally eating.

Pancakes were delicious - I had to restrain myself from just diving straight into the pile of fluffy batter and consuming the whole stack within seconds.

Loki continued to eat slowly, watching me with an almost amused expression when he saw my attempt at self-control.

It occurred to me after a few bites to ask why he was helping me again - surely there was no mutual benefit here? But I kept my mouth shut for once - not caring why he was doing, just glad that he was.

Loki put his fork down, and I glanced up at him. “I can see your restraint – go for it.” He said gesturing plate at the plate with a smirk.

I shot him a small, sheepish smile and then continued to devour the plate whilst he watched. It was only once I had finished that I turned red, realising how impolite I had probably just been.

What was worse – I was still starving.

“Still hungry?” Loki asked, and I looked at him suspiciously again – surely, he could read minds.

He seemed to smirk at this, once again knowing what I was thinking. “Wait here.” He ordered again, and he vanished once more.

I glanced around the room, wondering where he had gone this time and – once again – where he could possibly think I could go. That’s when I released the plate had vanished along with him.

I half expected another knock on the door, but nothing happened, and I just continued to gaze impatiently around the room, surprised to find I was actually missing the unusual dark-haired man.

“Knock, knock?” Came a voice from behind me, and I jumped, snapping my head to the right where Loki was back bearing a fresh plate of food. “Is that better?” He asked teasingly, making his way back around the bed.

“Not really.” I muttered, still feeling my heart racing from his sudden reappearance.

He smirked at my answer, depositing the plate between us once more, and returning to the same position at foot of the bed.

I wanted to dive straight into the new pile of food, but I hesitated once more.

“Still no trust?” Loki asked across from me. I bit my lip and shook my head.

I just couldn’t. All the teaching I had received stopping from the seemingly reckless decision.

Loki sighed lightly, though he didn’t sound particularly annoyed, and his fork appeared once more in his hand. Once he had taken the first few bites, I was quick to follow him.

We carried on like this for a while - Loki only eating enough to satisfy my worries before he let me have the rest. I could feel his eyes constantly on me as I ate, though I kept my own gaze on the plate.

I should have found his constant surveillance unsettling, but I didn’t. In fact - though it did make me blush - it felt almost comforting.

“You’re very good with your magic.” I observed when he had once again vanished and then reappeared with a third plate of pancakes - commenting that it would have to be the last one as he didn’t want to raise too much suspicion with the disappearance of all the food.

“You know magic?” He questioned back in surprise.

I shook my head, as I chewed. “Not really.” I admitted, once I had swallowed my mouthful. “They keep trying to push me, but I’ve never managed anything.” I say without thinking.

“They?” Loki questioned, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

It suddenly hit me what I had just said. I felt my eyes widen and I froze in my movement. Shit. “Oh – uh - I -” I stammered, panicking. Shit, how’d I get out of this?! I couldn’t think of a single explanation and Loki’s deep green eyes on me weren’t helping my mind to focus. I dropped my fork and scrambled to my feet, “Um – I – would you – uh – I - excuse me!” I stuttered out, moving quickly towards the en-suite and abruptly shutting the door behind me.

“Oh no, oh no.” I muttered quietly to myself, leaning back against the door and allowing myself to slide down till I was sat on the floor. I cursed myself silently, burying my head in my hands.

I couldn’t believe I had just said that. I had been too relaxed. He made me too relaxed. Loki made me too relaxed.

And now I’d just gone and proved I’d been lying this whole time – that I in fact did know more than I was telling them, even if it admittedly probably wasn’t much use to them – though maybe it was, I didn’t know what they were after!

I stayed hidden in the bathroom for over an hour, curled up in a ball, until I was finally brave enough to check if Loki had left.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw no sign of him in the room, and I crept out, but I still highly aware of his ability to appear out of thin air should he chose to.

There wasn’t much I could about anything though whilst I was still locked in this room and so I had the torture of simply waiting for my fate to find me – be it Loki suddenly reappearing, or the knock on my door demanding my presence to explain the information I was withholding. I was certain that conversation would end with them finally convince of my involvement with their enemy and my permanent sentence in this tower.

My heart sunk when there was a knock at my door at midday, but that turned out to just be the arrival of my lunch which I then didn’t touch despite the continual growl of my stomach.

Nothing more happened for the rest of the day, the light in my room soon fading as evening fell around me.

When my dinner arrived without a word I was confused – surely Loki would have told them about my slip up by now? Were they waiting until tomorrow? Dragging this out as its own form of torture? Did they plan to do something in the middle of the night whilst I slept? Well, I could say now that it wouldn’t work, as I had no intention of sleeping tonight.

Instead I would stay right here, where I had been for most of the day, sat at the foot of my bed, staring at the door, waiting for the knock and wondering why it was yet to come.

“Knock, knock.” Came a familiar voice behind me.

I couldn’t help jumping at the noise after the hours of solid silence in the room - but I didn’t turn around this time.

My lack of response seemed to make Loki falter slightly and I barely heard his soft steps as he moved around the bed from where he had appeared by the window. He lingered near the door where he had earlier, looking at the untouched plate of food still sat by the door.

“Have you eaten anything since this morning?” He asked gently, his voice a low hum.

I shook my head, not lifting my gaze from my lap where I fiddled slowly with my fingers.

I noticed Loki move out of the corner of my eye, and I peek over at him through my lashes. He held out a hand and a tray appeared with a plate of food, identical to the one that had been delivered to me earlier.

He turned now, walking over and placing the tray where it had rested earlier that morning, though we had switched places on the bed. He took a seat at the top of the bed, helping himself to one of the plates of food and settling back against the headboard, so he faced where I sat side on.

Loki didn’t say anything more, simply eating his food in silence, completely relaxed as I just sat there in turmoil trying to ignore him and the enticing smell of the food.

“If you’re hungry, just eat.” Loki finally said, nudging the tray closer to me. I glanced across at it, but then resolutely turned away. No. “As much as I admire the control,” Loki admitted, shifting in his seat, “It’s not much use if it just leaves you weak and starving.” He pointed out.

I shifted in my seat as well and Loki stopped eating, when he began to see my stubbornness wavering under his logic. Was he right? I could be mad at the man, but there was no use to continue to starve myself – that wouldn’t help anything.

Reluctantly I spun myself around, crossing my legs so I now faced the tray and the food.

Loki seemed to notice when I faltered again, my eyes on the plate, but making no move to do anything more.

“What? Still don’t trust it?” He asked.

I shot a glance up to him which told him what he needed to know.

“What if I told you I made it myself?” Loki tried.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why do I feel like I ought to be offended by that?” He muttered with a smirk.

He sighed wearily, putting his plate back on the tray. “I got two plates for a reason.” He muttered to himself, but I could still see the smirk pulling at his lips.

He helped himself to food off ‘my plate’ whilst I helped myself to food off the one he’d been eating and we soon ended up sharing both plates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure what I think of this part - I’m worried Loki’s a bit out of character… It’s definitely his softer side, but I think that’s the point… I'm not sure...
> 
> Hope you Enjoyed it anyway!  
> Let me know what you think!


	9. Explanations

Regardless of Loki’s continual attempts to persuade me otherwise, I refused to sleep that night.

It was true I had given in and trusted him enough to eat the same food as him – and for neither of us suffer any ill effects from it - but I wasn’t about to trust him to protect me from the very people he’d would bring to my door by informing them about my lie.

Regardless of my poor humour towards him, Loki didn’t leave the room, instead – though I initially tried to refuse any attempt at conversation – we ended up spending most of the night talking.

Loki remained in the same place on my bed, his back up against the headboard and, once he removed the tray, his long legs stretched out over the mattress, crossed at the ankle. I had begun pacing restlessly after eating, trying to ignore the dark-haired - and admittedly rather handsome man – who was completely at home on my bed, and instead thinking back to my impending doom when the knock on my door finally came.

Loki had moaned about my constant moving and – despite me telling him just to leave if it bothered him – I did eventually stop, my feet beginning to protest again. I was now sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall opposite the foot of the bed so I inadvertently looked at Loki, who was now a good few feet above me, his face slightly hidden my view at my angle due to his crossed feet.

Neither of us mentioned my slip up from earlier that morning, nor spoke of anything similar to it, instead somehow spending hours talking about anything and everything.

“So, is it true that you didn’t know what a kitchen was?” Loki asked, looking at me in amused disbelief.

I felt my cheeks warm, “How did you know about that?” I asked shamefully.

“I hear things.” He said simply, a wicked glint in his eye that told me he probably didn’t get the information in a particularly honourable way. “So, my information is accurate?” He pushed when I didn’t say anything more.

“Maybe.” I muttered unhappily, dropping my gaze. I was expecting him to laugh, but I didn’t hear him, and he didn’t say anything about it either, tempting me to glance up at him. He seemed to be thinking about what I said like it was important somehow.

He noticed me looking, “And you didn’t know about that ‘TV’… contraption, either?”

I shook my head in embarrassment, wondering why he wanted to know about my lack of knowledge so much.

Loki frowned in surprise as he thought about this. “I had come to the assumption that every Midgardian knew about these devices,” He said, seeing my puzzled expression, “- you all seem to be constantly glued to them anyway.” He muttered, clearly not quite as enamoured with it.

“Yeah well, maybe I’m not a normal Midgardian.” I muttered bitterly at the floor, pulling my legs up to my chest.

From my conversations with Loki, I had worked out that being a ‘Midgardian’ meant I was from Earth – a human – and that he – Loki - was not.

He had then proceeded to tell me about the other realms - going off on a tangent on each one – and I had happily sat back, listening to his smooth, almost soothing voice, and soaked up the information like a sponge.

Loki seemed taken aback at first at my willingness to immediately believe there were other realms, beyond mine own, but I had never considered that it couldn’t be a possibility.

It was slowly occurring to me that my upbringing wasn’t considered ‘normal’ and I wasn’t sure I actually knew what ‘normal’ was anymore.

“Personally, I don’t believe that to be a bad thing.” Loki murmured with a frown, responding to my previous statement and bringing me sharply back the present.

Loki shifted on the bed, looking slightly sulky. He’d told me about the incident that happened in New York a few years ago – though I couldn’t be sure he had told me everything - and I could now see why the others – these so called ‘Avengers’ – weren’t particularly keen on the man lying on my bed.

But as I looked at him sat there on the bed, his head back and eyes closed, hands resting on his lap with his fingers intertwined, I saw nothing – and had seen very little in my general interactions with him – that would make me think he could possibly do something like the events of New York.

But maybe that was his skill. He had already told me he was known as the God of Mischief and Lies, so maybe this whole evening was a lie to lull me into a false sense of security around him. But could I really talk? Wasn’t it exactly the same thing I was doing?

Either way, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to hold it against the man, or fear him anymore than I did in this very moment. Which, I had to admit to myself now I thought about it, wasn’t very much. Sure, I didn’t trust the man, but I didn’t fear him – even after my nightmare.

The jury was still out on these ‘Avengers’ though.

Everything Loki told me about them had made them out as heroes, though his voice had been rather bitter, but if what Loki had said was true, then, surely, they were the good guys?

But then what did that make me, if I had been found with the people they were clearly trying to track down?

Was I their enemy? Were they mine?

More worryingly - was I the bad guy?

Lost deep in thought, I jumped in alarm when something cold, and slightly damp, touched my cheek. I gasped at the chill on my skin and looked around, trying to work out what it had been.

“You look like your thinking too hard.” Loki suddenly said, and my eyes snapped to him, realising he was now looking at me again, and seemed to be trying to hold back a mischievous smirk.

I scowled at him, still not sure what had happened, but certain he was behind it.

He lazily twisted his fingers around and I felt the feeling again, a small damp kiss on my face. I put my hand to the spot on my cheek, and then I noticed it. A small white shape fluttered down from above me, settling on the back of my hand this time, catching on the invisible hairs, before it then seemed to melt, pooling into a small drop on my skin.

I furrowed my brow at the drop of liquid. I had no idea what it was, but it had been beautiful, and was clearly more of Loki’s magic.

I glanced up at him to ask what these things were, but another of the little icy flakes fell on my nose, stopping me before I could speak. I crossed my eyes, trying to look at where it sat, watching as it melted the same way the other had.

But immediately I knew this one was different. I wasn’t sure if my skin was more sensitive, or if the icy magic was stronger, but I could feel the coldness creep into my skin from the drop, sinking into every inch of my body. I let out a violent shiver, gasping at the uncomfortable feeling.

“Cold, my dear?” Loki chuckled from the bed.

I scowled at him, but another white smudge fell past my face and I couldn’t help following it with my eyes as it drifted lazily to the carpet, finally coming to rest on the fibres. “What are they?” I breathed.

“You’ve never seen a snowflake?” Loki questioned, furrowing his brow.

I shook my head, my eyes remaining on the flake sat on the carpet, still completely intact, allowing me to admire the few icy crystals of its structure that I could make out.

“It’s just ice.” I heard Loki say, clearly not as amazed by them as I was.

The snowfall around me seemed to be getting heavier, more flakes falling, and at a faster rate, the icy water landing repeatedly on my clothes and exposed skin.

I shivered again, goose bumps erupting up my arms, the temperature in the room feeling like it had suddenly dropped several degrees. I hugged my knees tighter to my chest and glanced up at Loki who was watching his hand as he twisted his fingers, fiddling with his magic.

“C-could you make them stop?” I asked anxiously.

My voice seemed to pull him from his thoughts and he glanced across at me, realising how cold I had gotten. He muttered a quick apology and the snow vanished in an instant, the warmth of the room quickly returning, though the chill in my bones persisted and I didn’t relax my muscles. 

We sat in silence for a while, Loki seeming to realise he had a mistake and mentally chiding himself, me not knowing what to say in comfort.

Eventually I decided to break the tension I felt had fallen over us.

“Is it only Asgardians that can do magic?” I asked, my voice coming out quieter than I had intended it to.

Loki still heard though, looking to me in surprise at the question. He frowned, “No,” He said, “other races are more than capable of learning and perfecting magic.” He told me. “- and most do.”

“So, can Midgardians learn?” I asked, trying to just sound casually interested, but I couldn’t hide the desperate hope in my voice.

“Previously I would have said it was highly unlikely,” Loki admitted, and I felt my heart drop slightly, “But I recently,” He continued, “I came across a Midgardian man who seemed to have mastered some basic parlour tricks.” He said.

I perked back up immediately. “Really?!”

He nodded with a small smile at my sudden excitement. “Clumsy magic at best,” He said, dismissing the other man’s abilities like nothing, “And I do not believe it was his own, but that he used objects to channel the magic around him.” Loki explained, “Still,” He said, “It was relatively impressive for a human.” He allowed, as he reminisced with a slight grimace on his face.

“What was his name?” I asked eagerly

Loki snapped back to reality at the question, “Strange.”

“What is?” I asked, bewildered

Loki frowned down at me, but then realised the confusion. “You misunderstand,” He said, “The man was called Strange.” He told me, and I couldn’t help blushing at my mix-up.

“How did you meet him?” I asked, genuinely intrigued, and wishing to quickly move away from my embarrassing mistake.

Loki raised an eyebrow at my nosiness, but seemed to decide that it was ok to tell me. “The man somehow located my brother and me whilst we…” He paused, considering his next words, “-whilst we were searching for someone.”

“Oh?”

“Hmm,” Loki nodded, “seemed that the man didn’t particular appreciate my presence on Earth,” Loki said - and I could sort of understand this after the events of New York - “My brother, however, eventually managed to convince him to aid us in our search.”

“To find the person?”

Loki nodded.

“And did you?” I asked, eagerly. “Did you find the person?”

Loki’s face seemed to drop at the question, and I wondered if I pushed too far.

“In a way…” He sighed, letting his head fall back so he gazed up at the ceiling.

I frowned, not understanding what he meant by that. Was it rude to ask?

“Who was it?” I asked gently, risking it, sensing there was something deeper to this story.

I was surprised when Loki answered, “My father.” He murmured quietly, his voice sounding hollow and I thought I saw him close his eyes. I could tell this story didn’t have a happy ending.

“What happened?” I asked quietly, not sure whether to keep pushing and get him to talk about it, or if I was annoying him and he would just turn around and bite my head off.

“He died.” Loki confessed, his voice rough from whatever emotions were going on inside him.

I felt my breath catch in my throat and I swallowed self-consciously, feeling horrible for prying into such a sensitive topic.

“I’m sorry.” I murmured softly, dropping my eyes to my hands in my lap.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Loki lift his head again, feeling his eyes find me again. I glanced up and he seemed to be studying me, like I’d done something confusing to him. I couldn’t think what though.

I thought he would drop the subject now, but he didn’t. “My brother took it the worse.” Loki admitted, his voice sounding almost normal again now. “The storm he created that night was larger than I’d ever seen,” He confessed, adverting his eyes from mine again and gazing off into space. “You probably heard it - or at the very least felt it.” Loki scoffed, though the disdain for his brother’s powers didn’t ring as true as usual – not that I knew it.

“Felt what?” I questioned, though I didn’t want to interrupt him.

He raised a brow, “Don’t know what a storm is either?” He teased lightly. I shook my head, feeling the heat in my cheeks again. Loki sighed “I suppose at this point I’m not overly surprise.” He admitted, shooting me a small smirk. I blushed even harder at how naïve I must seem.

“My brother can harness lightening and generate thunder storms.” Loki explained, watching his one of his hands as he spun it, producing a cloud of green magic which rumbled threateningly above his palm. I watched in awe, though couldn’t help jumping slightly when a crack of light flashed through the cloud.

I was reminded sharply of the night in the medic bay when the sky had crashed thunderously over me and the room had kept flashing with a blindingly bright light.

“The whole tower shook.” I mumbled in memory of what I had thought was an attach against the Avenger’s Tower. Loki nodded and curled his fingers over his palm, snuffing the mini storm out into wisps of green smoke. “Yes, that would have been my dear brother.” Loki sighed heavily. “After our delightful sister decided to pay us a visit, Thor flew us straight back here.” Loki explained, “However, I believe he was so riled from our little chat with her, and his father’s death, he caused quite a sensation in the weather that night for you Midgardians.”

I barely blinked at the mention of his sister – lots of people had sisters, that wasn’t odd – focusing more on the relief I felt at knowing the tower hadn’t been under attack that night by the great monstrous creatures my imagination had created.

“My brother despises me now.” Loki muttered, seemingly to himself.

“By the sounds of it, he already did.” I tried to joke lightly.

Loki smirked at this, but his face soon dropped again. “No,” He murmured, “This time he must truly think me beyond redemption, and I cannot blame him for those thoughts, for I was the ultimate cause for his father’s death.”

I frowned at Loki’s bowed head, a few escaped strands falling around his face. “You can’t seriously believe that!” I said, “You were trying to find him – to help him.” I cried – though the latter was a guess, “How could possibly believe you were the one to kill him?!” I demanded angrily.

“You don’t what happened!” Loki suddenly roared, something inside him snapping, making him match my temper and exceed it, and - even though he was on the opposite side of the room to me - I couldn’t help but recoil from the venom in his voice.

My heart pounded as I sat there in shock at his outburst. This was a side of him I hadn’t seen before. Admittedly I hadn’t known Loki for very long at all, but he’d always seemed so calm and collected. This side of him was impulsive and raw, a side that made me think so of the things I had heard about him could be true. A side that finally made me fear the man.

A side that oddly reminded me of myself.

Loki’s jaw was clenched and his eyes almost wild as he stared me down, the green intense and clear even from this distance. I steadied my breathing as well as I could and squared myself up to him, refusing to be intimidating quite so easily. “Then tell me.” I said firmly, holding his gaze with my own despite the overwhelming urge to look away.

We stared at each other, waiting for the other to concede. Eventually Loki conceded, his temper seeming to deflate out of him as he sighed heavily at my persistence. He grumbled a ‘fine’ before he reluctantly explained his recent attempt to take the thrown of Asgard by banishing Odin, then proceeded to impersonate him until his brother had discovered the trickery.

It had never occurred to me before this point, to ask why their father had been on earth, but now I could see it was a bigger deal than I had originally thought.

“So now Thor thinks you drove your father so mad with your spell that he killed himself?” I asked, my eyes wide at how messed up this family seemed to be.

“He didn’t… ‘kill’ himself, as such,” Loki tried to explain, “Odin simply… Let go…” He murmured, his eyes seeing something I couldn’t see.

We both fell into silence after that. A part of me wanted to get up and comfort Loki about everything he’d been through, but another part of me was screaming that this was the proof I needed to confirm my initial doubts trusting this man.

Everything he had told me this evening, if he had been telling me the truth - which I could only assume he had, otherwise why else would he paint himself in such a bad light? – had only opened my eyes to what he was capable of – the lies, the trickery, the scheming the murder.

I was suddenly rather doubtful as to how I should feel about him, and whether I should want him in my room.

“I bet you don’t trust me now, do you?” Loki laughed bitterly, seeming to read my thoughts again, his eyes full of self-loathing.

And that look in his eyes, that bitter laugh, that was what did it for me.

Loki was clearly regretting everything he’d done, clearly hating himself for the stories of his actions that he was forced to admit to, and something in my heart yearned for him, wished to be able to take away the heavy weight of his regret that so clearly prayed on him.

Of course, I still had a strong nagging doubt in my mind that even this could be a front of his, a mask to hide his true self beneath, lulling me into a false comfort.

But how could I ever be certain what part of a lying trickster was real?

I brushed the thought aside, certain that the exposed emotions I could on his face were too raw and intense to be a facade. I shoved myself roughly to my feet before I could change my mind, and walked slowly over to the other side of the bed to where Loki was still stretched out.

He watched me puzzled and slightly wary as I clambered onto the bed next to him, but I just copied his position, leaning back against the headboard and stretching my much shorter limbs out over the duvet.

We sat there for a few moments in silence before I finally decided I needed to broach the subject.

“Why haven’t they come for me yet?” I asked outright.

“What?” Loki asked, confused what I meant.

“Why has no one come knocking at my door to drag me out of here and ask me why I have been lying to them?”

“And why would they do that?” Loki asked with a raised brow, and he almost made me believe he had no idea what I was talking about. 

“Because…” I hesitated, did I really want to bring this all up again? Maybe I was lucky, and Loki had completely forgotten about this morning and had never told the ‘Avengers’. Was I just digging my own grave by bring it up? “Because of what I said earlier.” I finally said. “About them. About my past.” I muttered anxiously, nerves twisting in my gut

“And you thought I’d tell them…” Loki guessed, his voice back to how I remembered it, smooth and charming.

I nodded silently, not looking at him, my eyes on my fingers that rested on my lap as I picked at them.

Loki’s chuckle surprised me and I snapped my eyes to his. “That’s why you wouldn’t speak to me earlier? That’s why you’re not sleeping right now?”

I just dropped my gaze again, feeling embarrassed, though I wasn’t sure why. Why was this funny to him? Why did he sound relieved?

“Look, child –“ Loki started.

“Hannah.” I corrected him, not appreciating ‘child’.

“I think we both know that’s not true…” Loki smirked knowingly.

I inwardly cursed. I guess I should have been too surprised, if anyone could see through my lies it was going to be the God of lies.

“Look,” Loki sighed, continuing on despite my scowl, “I’m not exactly ‘liked’ around here,” He pointed out, “So if I have something that might aid the ‘mighty avengers’…” He quoted, rolling his eyes, “- I generally don’t give it to them.” He smirked. “Leverage of information is a powerful thing.” He added with a wink.

Despite what Loki might have thought, this didn’t really give me comfort.

“So, you’re just lording my secret over them to get what you want?” I asked with a raised brow, daring him to tell me otherwise.

It then seemed to daw on Loki that he’d messed up. “I –“ He started.

I shifted myself away from him, not wanting to hear it his attempt to excuse what he’d said. 

I had thought about trusting the man for merely a second, and he’d proven me wrong, using my secrets as a gambling chip for his own schemes.

“Leave me alone.” I muttered, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and turning my back on him.

“Wait, I-“

“I said leave.” I snarled, still not turning around, already feeling the hot tears burning the corner of my eyes as my fingers angrily clenched the bed sheets beneath my hands, trying to keep my temper in before I tried to turn and backhand him.

“Fine.” Loki snapped back, his temper flaring with mine, and the bed dipped under me as he stood up. I thought I sensed him linger behind me for a moment, but when I risked a glance around, my room was empty.

I let the tears fall freely now, burying my face in my hands.

I couldn’t trust him.

At all.

I had tried to trust him, and then tried again, hoping that the nagging doubts and the stories I had heard could somehow be wrong… but they weren’t.

The problem was though, even if I didn’t trust him, Loki still held one of my secrets.

I believed him when he said he hadn’t told anyone else, but I couldn’t be sure how much long that would last now - especially if I’d just angered him.

I groaned loudly and hopelessly into my hands.

Once again, my fate was in Loki’s hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this chapter is a lot longer than I intended it to be (3954 words!) - I guess I just kept rambling …. so I hope it’s alright! Also I’m a bit worried that Loki is a bit out of character… I'll work on it in the next chapter!
> 
> I’m running on a total of 7hours of sleep in 48 hours, so I apologise if there is any glaringly obvious mistakes that I have missed!
> 
> Hope you liked it! I'd love some feedback! :)


	10. Flames

It had been nearly two days since Loki had left whilst I had fallen into tears. Loki hadn’t attempted to enter my room since. I knew I ought to be glad about this – hating him as I did – but all instead I couldn’t help missing his company.

Every moment there wasn’t a knock at my bedroom door, it surprised me. It was torture, this waiting, stuck in the confines of my room with nothing to do about it. I was getting so desperate that, despite having already made numerous attempts previously, I spent a large amount of my time trying to jimmy the windows open somehow - even if I was still miles above the street.

After hours of this though, I had now resigned myself to the fact it couldn’t be done, and was sat once again on the bed, watching and waiting for the moment the door opened.

After several hours of this as well, I became so out of my mind with the anxiety and boredom that I had resorted to trying to get myself to practice magic in whatever way I could - gaining some hope from Loki’s story of the man called Strange.

The problem was I had no idea what I was doing, or where to even start. Most of the time I spent staring at my hands, trying to focus everything I had on each fibre of my skin.

At one point I thought I felt my hand warm, but it hadn’t lasted long, and I hadn’t felt anything since.

It was now as I once again observed my hands, that there was finally a knock at my door.

I barely raised my gaze, having grown complacent in the time I had waited and not believing my ears.

But then I heard the lock click open. My head shot up, dropping my hands into my lap.

“Ma’am?”

Rogers was in the doorway and I was suddenly reminded how long it had been since I’d last seen him. He didn’t look any different, expect maybe more serious, the warm smile he gave me in greeting, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Can you come with me for a moment?” He asked politely, though his tone was serious and didn’t offer any other options to me.

I could feel my heart immediately drop. It had finally happened. Loki had told them.

They finally knew the truth about me.

Now they would properly sentence me.

I’d never see the outside of this room.

Or maybe I wouldn’t be kept in this room - maybe they’d make a proper holding cell for a proper criminal.

All these thoughts past through my head as I hesitated a moment on the bed. None of my worries made a difference to my next move though, the only move I had.

I slipped from the bed and made my way over to the man stood in the doorway. He watched my movements, stepping aside when I came close to allow me to move through the doorway. Rogers then followed after me, pulling the door closed behind us and I had to wonder if I’d ever enter the room again.

I didn’t have long to think about that rather depressing thought though, as Rogers was stood next to me, ready to lead me down the corridor to my whatever was next.

We walked in silence to the elevator which we then took up around three floors, missing the living area which I had automatically assumed we would be heading for, and instead ending up in a corridor I had never seen before.

Rogers led me another short distance down the hallway till he stopped at door on the left, holding it open for me to walk in ahead of him.

I faltered only a moment before I headed in.

The room sharply reminded me of the medical bay I had been kept in only around a week ago. It was the same size and had a similar scenic window stretching across the wall opposite me, the only big difference from the medic bay was that the room was almost completely empty except for a large boardroom table in the centre of the carpet which was then surrounded by expensive looking leather chairs.

They were all there - all the ‘Avengers’ - seated or stood around the room, none of them looking happy, though only one looked angry – Stark – the others just seemed sad, maybe disappointed.

I felt like that was even worse.

I glanced back at Rogers for help as to what to do now, and he gestured for me to take a seat on the nearest chair. I did as he said, though I didn’t like having the door behind me and I glanced anxiously back at him, watching as he now moved to stand between me and the door, crossing his hands in front of himself.

I guess he was security.

That didn’t particularly reassure me, so I turned my attention back to the rest of the room, looking between each of the others nervously.

Romanoff sat on my right, her position on the chair was relaxed, but her eyes flashed between me and Stark, watching as he paced up and down the other side of the table, framed by the grey sky outside the window.

Barton lent against the wall next to the window, just behind Stark, his eyes also on the man as he paced. When I caught his eyes, he flashed me a forced smile, but I quickly glanced away, not wanting his sympathy for the situation I had created for myself.

My eyes now fell on Dr Banner instead, who sat in the furthest corner from me, keeping himself to himself, looking rather uncomfortable and as those he was wishing he was anywhere but where he was.

The only person who didn’t seem at all fazed by the atmosphere in the room, or any of events about to transpire, was Thor. He was leant on the wall behind Romanoff, his arms crossed over his chest, so his biceps stood proud and pronounced, his face naively unconcerned.

The silence in the room continued to wear on, until Romanoff finally spoke. “Stark.” She said softly, triggering the man to stop his incessant movement for a moment, suddenly seeming to see me for the first time.

Stark’s eyes bored into mine and I tried my best not to cower under his unwavering gaze.

He scared me more than Loki ever had.

When the man continued to say nothing, Barton stepped forward. “Maybe I should start th-“

Stark threw a hand out, stopping Barton’s words and his movements. Everyone’s eyes were on Stark watching him warily, not sure what his next move would be.

“So, kid….” Stark finally muttered, stepping towards me, his eyes never leaving mine, “I’m giving you a chance to answer this question one more time… Correctly.” He added, pausing for a moment to let this sink in. “What is your name?”

I hesitated. Was this a trick question? Or did they know I had been lying about my name as well? Best to presume that knew as little as possible until proven otherwise.

“Hannah.” I answered, after a brief pause.

“Ah! “Wrong answer!” Stark declared, now leaning over the table at me so he was on my eye level, though the table was so large that he was still a good two metres away from me. “You see, kid, we’ve stumbled across some rather interesting information.” He told me, raising his eyebrows. “Some interesting information,” He repeated, “that tells us your name is not, in fact, ‘Hannah’, but - instead - is Miss [Y/N] [L/N].” He told me, watching my face intently for any sign of a reaction to the name, but I kept my face an emotionless mask – just like I had been taught by Ma’am.

“So, tell me,” Stark said sternly, “Does this name ring any bells to you?”

Was there any point in trying to lie my way out of this? If Loki had already told them about me - if they had enough information to know my name – then surely, they must know everything? Was there any point in denying it?

I just nodded in response.

“So, do you acknowledge the fact you knowingly and willingly lied to us about your full name?” Stark continued.

I glanced at each of the other people in the room, all their eyes on me - even Thor’s.

I nodded again.

“Care to explain why?”

“The same reason I imagine you used to.” I mumbled, dropping my gazes, unable to stand the force of his eyes on mine any longer, “Names are powerful things - I didn’t trust you enough with mine.”

This seemed to stun the Stark for a moment as he fell silent for a few moments.

He seemed to gather himself once more again though, continuing on with his interrogation which no one else seemed to want to be a part of.

“Well then, tell me, Miss [L/N],” He said, now making full use of my real name, “is there anything else you didn’t deem to trust us wi-“

Just then, a shrill alarm sounded, making me startle.

“Sir?” Came an animatronic voice out of nowhere, clear even over the obnoxiously loud noise.

Stark closed his eyes in annoyance. “Jarvis?” He snapped, staring down at the wooden table and for a moment I thought he was talking to me – though I had no idea what he meant.

“A fire has broken out on the first floor, sir.” The voice came again, and I glanced wildly around the room, half expecting see another man had suddenly appeared amongst us. But there was no one. Was this a man like Loki? Could he magically appear and disappear at will? Was he invisible?

“Then get someone a fire extinguisher.” Stark sassed back, having no patience for the disembodied voice.

“I’m afraid our fire procedures are quickly being overwhelmed by the blaze, sir.” Jarvis reported, “It would seem the flames have now spread to the third floor.”

Stark eyes flew open, straightening up. “Already?!”

“Fourth floor now, sir.”

“Alright Jarvis.” Growled.

Stark was glancing to each Avenger now, silently forming a plan between there looks.

“Sixth floor, sir.”

“Thank you, Jarvis.” Stark muttered through clench teeth, before returning his attention back to his team. “Alright, Thor, you come with me, we’ll focus on damage control as we got the flight power. Barton, take care of Banner, Romanoff you’re on whatever-her-name-is duty,” He instructed, over the ringing alarm, gesturing vaguely in my direction, “Rogers, you’re in charge of making sure that everyone leaves in the chopper if we’re not up in 20 minutes.”

Everyone nodded at their orders, and Thor and Stark quickly left the room, heading to tackle the blaze. Barton hurried Banner quickly after them, whilst Rogers cast a glance back at Romanoff who nodded her head once in response, before he too disappeared through the doorway.

“8th floor.” Jarvis voice rang out as Romanoff now turned to me.

“Come on.” She said loudly over the deafening siren, “We’ve got to head to the roof.” She told me, no emotion in her voice as she tugged at my arm, pulling me towards the still-open door.

Once in the corridor she released my arm to allow us to both run unhindered, me just slightly ahead of her. When we reached the elevator I paused, but she continued to run past me, tugging my arm again, “You can’t take a lift in a fire!” She cried like I was insane.

That was a rule? I frowned at her, but followed after her anyway, breaking into a run again.

The shrill sound continued to ring out and I wished someone would turn it off – surely, we were all aware there was a fire now? It was making my head hurt.

I followed Romanoff through a heavy door into a contained set of stairs leading both up and down. The woman must have known I was close behind her, and not too worried about me attempting any escape – after all the only way out was up now – so she was already up the first flight of stairs, and showing no signs of slowing to wait for me.

I however, paused before taking the first step, suddenly realising something.

No one had mentioned Loki.

No one had warned him or told him where to go or what to do.

Without a second thought I took off down the stairs, completely the wrong direction.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loki had told me that his room was directly below mine. My room was three floors down, so his must be four floors down. I leapt down the stairs, jumping the last three steps of each flight – landing heavily at one point and gasping as the pain shot up my right ankle, but not faltering as I continued on.

When I finally reached the right floor, I barrelled through another heavy door, using my shoulder as a ram, and stumbled out into a corridor already full with a thick cloud of smoke that obscured anything further than a metre in front of me.

If his room was directly below yours he must be about five doors down on the right. I glanced down the corridor, already seeing a glowing red through the smoke that told me the flames had already reached this floor.

I ran towards the burning light anyway, counting each door I passed on my right.

There. The fifth door.

I began to sprint now, my target in sight, ignoring the flames eagerly crawling up to meet me from the other direction.

As I approached I could see the door I was heading for was already open and I hesitated for a moment – was he already out?

I considered stopping and turning around, but then I noticed something just outside the doorway on the floor where the smoke was at its thinnest - something pale that stood out against the dark carpet.

I didn’t hesitate now, sprinting towards my original goal and crying out in distress when I recognised the pale object as Loki’s outstretched hand.

When I finally reached the doorway, I could make out Loki’s sprawled figure unconscious on the floor, flames now only a few feet from his fingers that were extended out into the hallway.

His position on the floor told me he’d been trying to crawl from the room before the heat and smoke must have overwhelmed him and caused him to collapse. Without giving it a second thought, I grabbed his arm and attempted to scoop his body up, having the intention of trying to carry him out of the room and away from the blaze. His body, however, was much heavier than his skinny frame suggested - and I was still considerably weakened from lack of sleep and too few meals – so I could barely lift him, let alone carry him anywhere.

I searched around desperately for some inspiration as to what to do now, but the flames were nearly licking at the doorway and soon my exit would be completely blocked.

I couldn’t leave Loki though.

The room was sweltering hot, but now I was panicking so much I barely noticed.

I hauled Loki as far into the room as I could, away from the fast-spreading fire, then slammed the door on the inferno outside, hoping this might at least delay the flames entry, but also knowing I had just sealed my fate by closing off my only chance of escape.

This was it now.

Gasping for breath, I hauled up Loki onto the black bed, where he lay, still completely out cold – though his skin was burning hot.

I could feel my body was covered in sweat and I panted as I now made my way over to the window, hopelessly trying to unlock it somehow, and surprised when one side did finally spring open. The cold air was refreshing on my skin and I shivered at the feeling, quickly becoming cold despite the heat still in the room.

A quick glance down at the street below told me we were still at least twenty floors up from the city, and therefore the window would be of no use as an escape route. Despite this, it did, at least, allow some of the smoke to escape, and I did the only other thing I could think to. I snapped open the other window, then grabbed a pillow case off the bed and trapped it, so it billowed out like a flag in from air outside.

I prayed someone might understand my signal.

Having done all I could think to do, I turned back to Loki, noticing - out of the corner of my eye – how the flames made a glowing border around the door and they practically growled to be let in.

We were sitting ducks.

There had to be something more that I could do, but I didn’t know what.

My heart continued to pound unrelentingly in my chest, but I simply gave in, perching on the bed net to where Loki lay, and I watched his unconscious form.

He looked peaceful and innocent and I didn’t even realise I was doing it until my hand reached out and swept away the stray strands of hair that had fallen over his face. Still not truly paying attention to my actions, my hand trailed down his body, straightening out his clothes where they had been crumpled or skewed from my attempt to move him.

I felt peaceful.

In a small corner of my mind I registered that the flames had finally fought through the bedroom door, but there was no hint of fear left in me, I was uncaring and almost happy where I sat with the view in front of me.

The fire roared in my ears, but it sounded faint and distant to me for some reason, and still I felt no panic - only one thought in my mind and it seemed like the only right thing to do. The only thing left to do.

Without questioning it, I moved - in an almost trance-like state - so that I now straddled Loki’s lap. I looked at him one last time, gripping the fabric beneath his light weight armour, and then curled myself up so my forehead rested comfortably on his chest, scrunching my eyes closed and breathing in his sent as the flames engulfed us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I’ve finally managed it - and it’s only 2:33am! haha
> 
> I am exhausted, so I do apologise if there were any mistakes, or if this chapter’s not the best, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway!  
> Let me know what you think with a comment!


	11. Cold Hands

When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t remember anything, and it took a moment for the past few weeks to flood back to mind and why, exactly, I now found myself lying on a thin bed staring up at a white tiled ceiling.

I sat up pretty quickly then - immediately regretting it when the head rush nearly knocked me back down – and, once my vision finally managed to focus, I recognised I was in the familiar medical room, just as the door on my left opened.

The next thing I knew Thor had tackled me into a hug, nearly knocking me off the other side of the bed.

I gasped in surprise, but I was surprised to find myself not scared at the contact, relaxing into his tight hold and my heart monitor beeps slowing for the first time since I had awoken.

“Be careful Thor,” Came a warning voice from the doorway, “We don’t know how dangerous she is.” I looked past Thor’s shoulder to see Stark now stood in the doorway watching the interaction with stern, alert eyes.

Me, dangerous?

Against Thor?

Sure, I had some combat training, but I was definitely no match for this huge mass of muscle currently embracing me - especially not in my state where I could feel I barely had the energy to lift a muscle.

Thor pulled back from me then, but barely put any distance between us as he turned to the disapproving man in the doorway. “Stark, she saved my brother’s life, I find it hard to believe her mind is similar to those of these ‘hydra agents’.”

“She saved your brother, though.” Stark pointed out, taking a step further into the room. “That doesn’t exactly suggest she’s the best judge of character.”

“She risked her life for someone else though, Tony,” Romanoff’s voice suddenly spoke up as she stepped into the doorway behind Stark. “Do you know any hydra agent that would do that?”

“Bucky.” Steve spoke up on my right making me jump and I span my head to see him sat hunched over in a chair, elbows on his thighs, looking as tired as he had the first time I had met him. I guess he was on guard duty again.

No one said anything at this, the name seeming to have made everyone flinch and tense slightly and I wondered why.

Then I realised all their eyes were on me, boring into my skin, as though looking for something.

I didn’t like this. At all. I quickly felt the panic flooding my body, as I tried to look at all of them at once and finding this impossible. The heart monitor next to me began to beat hysterically again and my rational mind seemed to be taking a step back.

My vision blurred slightly, and I could feel my skin heating up - like I was blushing throughout my entire body.

This only made me panic more.

I must have fallen into some weird stupor or trance because I could see Thor take a step back to give me space, a look of concern on his face, whilst Stark and Romanoff stepped forward, looking alarmed.

In the back of my mind I could hear my name being called, but I couldn’t seem to respond to them, I couldn’t seem to do anything, like there was a delay between my thoughts and my actions. I felt like I had been shut into a cupboard in my mind, unable to access the commands, no longer in control.

There was movement behind the people in the room, was the door opening?

Then I heard my name being called, this time loud and clear through the fog in my mind.

Suddenly there was a cold hand on my wrist and I felt myself snap back into my body, released from my cupboard.

“Huh.” I gasped, taking in large gulp of cold air that chilled my burning throat. My eyes refocused again, and I found my entire vision was filled by a familiar pale face framed with long black hair.

“Loki.” I mumbled, and his face seemed to soften at him name.

“Are you alright?” He murmured quietly. I was suddenly aware that he was holding my hand where it rested limp in my lap and I glanced down at where he touched me, in a sort of stupor of amazement.

He followed my gaze, seeing how he was holding my wrist, and immediately released me, pulling back from me slightly. I thought I caught a look of hurt flash across his face, but it was gone when I tried to look again. Had I hurt his feelings somehow?

“Are you ok?” He asked again, slightly louder this time, his voice almost rough, and I realised he didn’t look as composed as he usually did.

“Are you?” I asked back with concern and he just smirked at me.

Without warning, Loki was abruptly pulled backwards away from me by a hand on his shoulder. Loki, having been taken by surprise, instinctively lashed out at his handler, but his brother easily caught his arm before it made contact with Stark.

The room filled with tension once more, everyone on alert for further attacks from the trickster, knowing he was a formidable enemy when he wanted to be. I remained sat on the bed, having weakly moved my arm to reach for Loki as he had been hauled backwards, but lacking the energy to do much more than that, and could now feel my temperature increase once more, the pounding back in my ears, dulling my hearing.

Loki seemed to almost sense the change in my, and, instead of lashing out again, his eyes flashed back to my own panicked ones.

“Release me.” Loki growled lowly, not breaking his eyes contact with me and I wanted to frown in confusion, wondering what he meant, but I found myself frozen like before, back in that little mind cupboard.

“Release me. Now.” Loki repeated coldly, when no one made any movement to do as he said. “Or else she is going to do something that she, and all of you, are going to regret.”

Everyone’s eyes flashed to me again now and I could feel the heat in me rise a few more degrees.

Probably against Stark’s better judgement, he released Loki, and Thor followed suit, releasing his arm. As soon as he was free, Loki was immediately back by my side again.

“It’s alright, [Y/N].” He muttered, looking like he wanted to touch me, but hesitating this time.

I was still enough in my right mind to know what I needed, and, without hesitating, I reached blindly for his hand, his cool skin ridiculously cold compared to mine, but also unbelievably soothing, I almost immediately felt calmer, snapping out of it again, immediately more myself.

I tried not to sigh in relief.

Loki seemed surprised that I had touched him, but he let me sit there, clutching his hand as my heart rate calmed once again.

“Are you ok?” He hummed, trying to catch my eye, but I was too embarrassed to make eye contact with him.

I nodded slowly, “I think I need to lie down.” I admitted quietly, my head feeling very heavy all of a sudden and my eyes threatening to close. Loki nodded and helped me to lie back down. I closed my eyes at the feeling of no longer having to hold my head up and I found it impossibly hard to open them again.

I thought I heard a voice, but then I was unconscious.

 

Loki soon realised that [Y/N] was now almost completely unresponsive, but he allowed his hand to remain resting in her slack fingers.

“What is going on with her, brother?” Thor now asked quietly, stepping up behind Loki.

Loki flinched at the voice, caught unaware by his brother, his whole focus having been on the girl on the table. “I have theories,” He muttered, his eyes not leaving [Y/N]’s still body, “but no exact knowledge.” He confessed, watching the girl’s breathing slow to a steady, slumbering pace.

“I will not ask you how you know each other so well,” Thor told him quietly, “as I am gratefully that you do, but tell us, is she dangerous?” He asked, “You are able to see best, the deep desires of people, can you see any part of this ‘Hydra’ in her?”

Loki didn’t answer straight away, continuing to study the silent girl. “She is dangerous.” He admitted, knowing the reaction this would cause. “But only because she has no idea what is within her, or how to control it.” He explained. “She has a strong temper, but I have seen no malice or evil in it, only fear and distrust.”

“And why exactly should we trust Reindeer games here?” Growled Stark.

“Because, metal man,” Loki muttered back coldly, turning to face the billionaire, “although I am being punished and temporarily banned from your little ‘squad’,” He admitted, “in the last two years I have done nothing but play a few harmless tricks on the lot of you – something that I cannot help doing when it is so easy.” He said with a sly grin, unable to help goading the irritating man a bit. Stark glared at him angrily. “Yet,” Loki continued, “I have done nothing to sabotage you, harm you, or overly prove myself deceitful, however, you continue to refuse to trust me.”

“A zebra can’t change its stripes.” Snarled Stark, unconvinced.

“Well, if you will trust me in anything, trust me in this, or else you will be condemning an innocent girl to the life sentence of a criminal and terrorist.” Snarled Loki icily. “I strongly suggest you reflect back on your buddy ‘Bucky’.” He continued, “as I believe what you see here in this girl, is an early, innocent version of a new ‘super solider’.”

Everyone seemed to freeze at this idea, confirming a thought that had been praying in the back of all of their minds. Their eyes fell on [Y/N] once more and Loki fought the urge to shield her from their gazes, happy she was passed out or else she would have certainly been plunged back into one of her episodes.

“Are you certain of this?” Romanoff spoke up for the first time in a while.

Loki turned his gaze on her now. “Almost completely.” He said, “It would explain the conditions we have seen her in, and also the power she has for a seemingly ordinary girl.”

“And what ‘power’ exactly, does she have?” Stark muttered, stepping closer to observe the girl.

Thor noticed his brother tense as Stark advanced and he watched Loki warily, ready to jump in to stop another attack on Tony.

“From the little I have seen,” Loki answered stiffly, “She has control over the fire element.”

Everyone’s eyes now snapped to his at the news.

“That’s why she didn’t get hurt by the flames?” Rogers asked.

“And why she was able to protect you?” Thor added.

Loki nodded his head briefly.

“Did she knowingly withhold this from us?” Ask Romanoff to no one in particular.

“No.” Loki answered. “Based on her lack of control, I would say she had no idea of her power.” He didn’t mention how the girl had confided in him about her disappoint at the lack of magical ability she had shown. He knew she had lied to him multiple times, but the emotion he had seen in her had been real – she truly hadn’t known the power that was inside her.

Until the point she had released it yesterday.

“What do we do about her then?” Rogers asked, “She may not officially be Hydra, but we can’t exactly release her onto the streets.” He pointed out.

“Not with her uncontrolled power, and not when Hydra is still very likely to be searching for her.” Agreed Romanoff.

“Keep her here for now then,” Loki said without thinking.

Everyone turned to look at him in surprise at him actually offering a suggestion.

He rolled his eyes at their expressions. “This is by far the safest place for her at the moment,” He explained, “few Midgardians would be stupid enough to attempt to breach this tower. She also then poses no risk to civilians.”

The four others looked between each other. Thor eventually shrugged. “Sound’s like a good plan to me.” He said.

“So, what?” We just keep her here indefinitely?” Stark demanded.

“Until we can deal with the Hydra situation, and she can handle whatever they’ve have done to her, yes.” Said Steve firmly, now standing up from his chair.

Tony scowled, but he didn’t say anything against it. If Cap was set on it, he wasn’t going to win a fight against it easily.

“Ok, it’s settled. [Y/N] stays here for now.” Rogers declared. Everyone nodded except Stark who simply turned and strode moodily from the room now.

Romanoff rolled her eyes and then followed after him, reluctant to deal with his childish behaviour.

“Bruce wants her in here over night.” Rogers told the two people that remained, stepping towards where Loki and Thor stood near the bed. “He said she seemed completely healthy, but he wanted to keep an eye on her a bit longer.”

The men nodded in response and then went to follow after Steve as he too moved towards the door. Loki paused in the doorway, shooting a glance back at [Y/N] still laid out asleep on the hospital bed.

He was already planning the best time to sneak back in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, sorry it took so long to get this piece out, especially when I left it on such a cliff hanger ;)
> 
> Not much happens in this part really, but it might have answered some questions haha
> 
> Hope you like it, let me know what you think!


	12. Trust

When I woke up next, it took me a moment to realise I was back in my familiar bedroom once again. Everything part of me felt stiff and tight and I groaned as I shifted myself upright, leaning heavily against the headrest, forced to keep my head down for a moment as the world spun around me.

My throat was parched and scratchy and, as I tried to breathe, I collapsed into a fit of dry, retching coughs.

“Here.” A glass of water appeared in front of my face and, without thinking, I took it and drained the whole thing in relief. The glass was taken from my weak fingers and refilled before being passed back to me again. I drank this one slightly slower, now turning to look at my helper.

Loki.

He hovered above me in a loose fitting green shirt, watching as I sipped at the water.

The memory of the last time I had seen him filled my mind, his hand in mine, soothing me with his words. Just as sharply though, I was reminded of are our parting the other day, the betrayal, the tears, the loneliness.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, sounding more accusing than I meant.

Loki turned away from me now, moving to the opposite side of the room where he pull opened the curtains allowing the daylight to fall into the room. The brightness told me that it must have been at least late morning. “I came to ensure that you ate something once you finally awoke.” Loki informed me with a bored tone, sounding as though this was the last place he wanted to be.

I frowned. We hadn’t exactly parted on good terms, so I was surprised he was willing to have anything to do with me – and wasn’t he still on room arrest? “Why?” I couldn’t help asking.

Loki spun to face me again, his face dark and harsh. “Why?” He repeated angrily, leaning towards me, his hands behind his back. “Because you are so stubborn!” He snarled. “Because your continual refusal to eat has left you in such a weakened state that people weren’t sure you were going to wake at all!” He growled, then turning so his back was to me again as he stared out the window. I could see his hands now, each gripping the other tightly.

‘People’ sounded an awful lot like him in that moment, but I pushed that thought aside. He didn’t care about me. He had proven that much when he had told me about his plan to use my life as a bargaining chip.

“That doesn’t explain why you are here.” I pointed out bitterly, not fazed by his angry outburst.

He glared at my insolence, but I didn’t bat an eyelid, for some reason - despite finally seeing his temper – I couldn’t find it in myself to fear him.

He sighed heavily, exhaling his anger and turned his head, though still didn’t look at me. “I also wanted to thank you,” He grumbled reluctantly through a clenched jaw, “For saving me.”

He surprised me once again. “Uh – that’s – uh – there’s no need,” I mumbled, then paused. “Are you ok?” I asked, unable to hide the concern in my voice, despite my attempt to sound as unemotional Loki.

He nodded, turning fully to me and raising his arms out to the side. “Completely unscathed.”

“How is that possible?” I asked in disbelief, my eyes travelling over his body trying to find any mark or tear, suddenly remembering that neither of us should be alive right now.

We had been trapped in a room full of flames - engulfed in an inferno!

“I have a theory.” Loki mused, his anger seeming to have dissipated away as quickly as it had come, his mind occupied elsewhere now.

“Oh?” I asked, and he nodded, making his way back towards me, perching at the bottom corner of the bed and facing me.

He eyed me for a moment, as though thinking something through.

“What?” I asked warily.

He shook his head. “I’ll talk if you eat.” He bargained instead, his face deadly serious.

“Is everything you do just a huge bribe?” I scowled, trying to buy myself some time to mull over his offer.

I hoped he’d take this reference to our previous fight as a slight tease, but instead I thought I saw a flicker of pain flash through his eyes.

“Fine.” I agreed quickly to make that image go away, my curiosity and hunger outweighing my distrust for the moment. “But the same rule stands – I only eat what you eat.” I stated, and he nodded, his face completely blank now. He flicked his wrist and a plate of food appeared on the bed between us.

I waited for him to make the first move as usual, waiting until he had swallowed his bite and was looking at me expectantly before I followed suit. I kept my eyes on him as I ate, waiting for the rest of his side of the deal.

“As much as I like to play to pretend with you,” Loki drawled watching my movements, “I think it’s time you told me the whole truth.”

I stopped eating. “That wasn’t part of the deal.” I grumbled, knowing there was no point denying I that I had been lying to him – the look on his face told me he already knew I was holding back even more than I had let slip up to this point.

“No,” He agreed, “but it may help me comprehend what is going on.”

“And why would I tell you anything? Look what happened last time!” I snapped angrily, his attempt to pry sparking a fire in me.

Loki frowned at me like he didn’t know what I was on about and I just gawked at him in frustrated in disbelief. “I got dragged from the room to undergo questioning?!” I suggested angrily, try to catch the flicker of recognition in his eyes. “If it wasn’t for the fire, I would have been toast in a completely different way!” I cried, aggravated by his faux-innocence.

Loki almost looked surprised at this information, as if, somehow, he hadn’t known. But how couldn’t he? He had been the one to trigger it all.

“Can I ask though?” I mumbled, eyes on my fingers as they fiddled anxiously with the bedding in my lap, the fire in me now dying down, dampened by the distress of remembering. “What did you get that was worth selling me out?” I asked, internally cursing when my voice broke. “I hope it was worth it.” I growled quietly, unable to find the same anger in me now, filled instead with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. “They’ll probably come back to finish their sentencing now I’m wake.” I muttered to myself and I glanced at the door to my room, as though it would suddenly open to reveal the ‘avengers’ come to capture me again. 

[Y/N].” Loki growled, and I flinched at my own name, pulling me back to the real world. “I didn’t tell them anything.”

“Yeah right.” I muttered moodily, my eyes still on the duvet and my face turned away from him.

“I am speaking the truth.” He insisted darkly, annoyed at my dismissive attitude. “When I discovered how much they knew, I looked into it.” He told me, “They’ve been infiltrating Hydra bases and one released a file on you. That’s where the information came from.”

I wanted to believe him, but he could just be lying.

“You don’t believe me.” It wasn’t a question.

“Would you, if you were in my position – especially after you flaunted your ability to use that information to get your way!” I snarled. “You probably used it to buy yourself out of your room arrest!”

“No.” Loki denied firmly. “There was an unspoken acceptance of me being released after the fire - my room was destroyed after all.” He pointed out and I felt myself cringe, but the question still stood - how the hell did we survive it?

When I refused to say anything to him, Loki growled. “If you don’t believe me, ask them yourself.”

“How do I know you didn’t give them the document.” I muttered stubbornly.

I could feel Loki glaring at me. “I’d love to know where all this distrust is born from girl…” He snarled, standing up again. “If you look into anything deep enough, there is always deceit…” He growled “At some point you will have to learn to blindly trust someone – if only one person.”

“And you’re telling me that ought to be you?” I asked, finally looking up at him, raising a brow.

This suggestion seemed to take Loki by surprise. “Not necessarily. I’m merely suggesting that you can.”

“And why should I think I that I can trust you with that?”

“I can give you no reason. You will simply have to have a bit of faith in someone.”

“I do.” I defended angrily

“In who?” he asked, suddenly intrigued.

I didn’t say anything, biting the inside of my cheek in self-punishment. I had said too much again. I needed to stop my anger getting the better of me. Control it. But it was hard. Almost harder than before. I had this odd feeling that ever since I woke up that my emotions were stronger and closer to the surface than before. I had never been this sassy before, nor this short tempered.

“One of Hydra’s people?” Loki guessed, raising an eyebrow.

I looked away again, but it was clear what the answer was.

Loki moved towards me again, perching on the bed once more, closer now so his thigh was nearly touching my knee. “I’m not going to yell at you for being buddies with a Hydra agent.” He muttered in an attempt to reassure me, a certain softness behind the words. “But what I want to know,” He said seriously, “is why you can trust them, but you can’t trust me.”

“I did trust you.” I admitted quietly, staring at the gap between us. “At one point. But then you went and decided to use me as a bargaining chip.” I pointed out once again, not angry anymore, but not happy either. I just wished I could remove that one little segment from time so that I could go back to trusting this man again.

Loki hung his head in exasperation at how you stuck at this point. “Wait here.” He muttered and then, just like that, he vanished.

I waited, very confused, for only about five minutes until there was a knock at the door. I had been looking at the spot Loki had disappeared, assuming this would be where he would reappear, but I now glance at the door without a word, watching it now swing open to reveal Thor in the corridor.

“Good to see you up, Miss [Y/N],” Thor greeted cordially, stepping just into room, followed closely by his brother who then slipped past him and returned to the other side of the room.

“Um – hello.” I greeted back in confusion, looking between the two brothers with a frown, seeking an explanation from at least one of them.

“My brother informs me that you don’t trust him.” Thor finally spoke up, seeing Loki was making no move to do so. Thor suddenly grinned widely at me. “For anyone else,” He chuckled, “I might advise that as the wisest course of action.” He teased, and I glanced across at Loki, seeing his scowl at his brother’s unhelpfulness and I had to bite my lip to stop yourself smirking. “But for you, ma’am,” Thor continued formally, “the reason for your mistrust is largely unfounded.”

“He didn’t use information about me to bargain for anything?” I questioned suspiciously.

“Uh - no.” Thor shook his head, confused by this question. “Should he have?” He asked, baffled.

I ignored his question, asking my own instead. “Why should I believe you any more than him? You are brothers after all.” I pointed out. “Convenient that he brought the one person in this building who is related to him.”

You heard Loki sigh in exasperation on your right, but you ignored him, your question directed at his brother. Thor laughed, “Wise question.” He commended with a smile, “But believe me, Miss [Y/N], me and Loki may be brothers, but there is no love lost between us.” He told me seriously. “I imagine Loki chose to bring me here as I am the one in this tower that listens when he speaks. The others are not particularly fond of him and generally ignore his presence.” He explained.

I eyed Thor suspiciously, searching for any lies in his words, but his face was open and friendly, no sign of dishonest and I couldn’t help believing the so-called ‘Thunder God’. I nodded, “Thank you, Thor.” I mumbled, embarrassed that he seemed to have been rather unknowingly dragged into mine and Loki’s feud.

He nodded in return, then glanced between me and Loki, silently checking whether he was required for anything else, but neither of us spoke. I was still rather perplexed by it all, and Loki now had his back to both of us, probably lost in his mind again.

Thor could see he was no longer needed and went to leave, pausing in the doorway to turn back. “Brother.” He called, Loki turning to him with a frown before striding after him out into the corridor, pulling the door to.

I was even more baffled now and decided to remain in bed, straining my ears in an attempt to catch any of the conversation through the crack in the door. I could make out the low rumble of Thor’s voice and the occasional remark of Loki’s, but was largely unable to make out any words, and definitely not enough to string into a comprehendible sentence.

A few minutes later, I was startled out of a random train of thought when Loki returned, alone, to the room, shutting the door behind him. He looked anxious.

“My brother has informed me that, to get you to trust me, I must first trust you.” He explained.

I frowned at this, unsure what he meant.

“It means,” He said, noting my confusion. “that I must tell you a secret of mine - to trust you - in the hopeful return of your own trust.”

And If I don’t give you my trust?”

“I shall have to accept that.”

I frowned at him but didn’t say anything. He waited for a response from me, but saw I wasn’t going to give one.

“Right.” He nodded, pacing back and forth, his hands gripped behind his back again, as I watched from my position on the bed. “You only know about me what I have told you correct?” He asked, snapping his head to mine.

I nodded, wondering where he was going with this.

“I have told you I am the second son of Odin, correct? Prince of Asgard?”

You continued to nod.

“Then you have bought my lie.”

Your brow furrowed at this. That was lie? So, he wasn’t from a place called Asgard? Did he make that up? But surely neither him nor Thor were from this world? - they were larger than life.

He saw my puzzlement and his lips rose into a humourless smirk. “I was raised under that title. Believed, myself, the lie the whole kingdom fed me.” He continued on, his eyes becoming distant and he lowered his head. “But I was never Asgardian blood.” He muttered, at the floor, before glancing up at me, the pain of the truth on his face.

As I looked at Loki I noticed his eyes, usually a deep, knowledgeable green, became darker, almost black, before they suddenly began to brighten into a vibrant red, his pupils now standing out clear and black in the centres, staring right back at me.

It was near impossible to look away.

I felt my intake of breath as I now watched a shimmer run across his skin, the previously pale skin now a bright icy blue marked with ridges and silver scars.

I could feel my eyes were wide as I drank in every inch of him. He was beautiful and haunting. Even from here I could feel the temperature in the room had dropped a few degrees, like it had when he had cast the snowflakes around me.

“The snow…” I mumbled to myself.

Loki must have heard it.

“Yes, as a Frost giant I have a certain affinity for the colder elements.” He smirked humourlessly, examining the blue skin on the back of his hand, before twirling his hand around, magicking an enlarged snowflake to form above his palm, spiralling gently on the air but never settling or moving from his hand. 

“That’s what you are then?” I asked gently watching the trick, “A frost giant?”

He nodded seriously. “Yes. A hideous creature that every species despises and fears.” He grumbled, slowly enclosing his fingers around the snowflake, snuffing it out.

He was clearly disgusted at his true heritage.

I hadn’t realised I had been leaning forward until I found I couldn’t get any closer, sat as I was. Almost in a daze, I threw the duvet off me and slid off the bed onto my stiff, slightly numb, legs. Loki watched me cautiously, clearly wanting to either aid or stop me, but not daring to come closer.

I waited until I felt steady enough on my feet, and then I closed the distance between us till I stood directly in front of him. Loki continued to watch me warily, the air around him feeling sub-zero, but I completely ignored the painfully numbing cold I felt through my scant clothing.

“For someone who finds it difficult to trust people, you’re rather brave to be this close.” Loki hummed down at me, clearly warning me against my actions, but also not seeming to want me to move away.

“I feel braver now.” I admitted, barely paying attention to my words, all my attention focused on studying him now he was closer, my eyes on the marks that along his neck and then disappeared beneath his shirt. “I have done since the fire.” I mumbled, too enthralled with him to notice the flicker of interest that crossed his face.

My eyes flickered to one of his arms now and I couldn’t fight the urge, reaching out a tentative hand to touch the back of his - except, when I made contact, the spot I touched was no longer blue, the pressure turning it back to his usual pale white colour.

I retracted my hand in surprise and frowned up at Loki.

“My skin will burn you.” He explained. Suddenly another shimmer past along his skin, just like that, he returned his illusion, his skin pale again, and his eyes their usual vivid green. I wanted to be disappointed at this, but I couldn’t - to me, no matter what form he took, he was beautiful.

A weird feeling past through me then, but it was gone before I question it.

“Now you have seen my true form,” Loki said, bringing me back to Earth. “You might now understand why I choose to keep it a secret. I am a monster to these people without my true heritage being known, if they were to find out…” He trailed off.

“I get it.” I said, saving him the pain of having to put it into words. I turned away, moving back to the bed, already feeling the whole-body exhaustion from the minimal movement I had done. “You can trust me.” I told him, my back to him. I sat back on the edge of the bed, closing my eyes at the wave of fatigue that swept through me.

“If that is so,” Loki voiced sounded close and I felt the mattress dip next to me. “then can you trust me?”

You stayed silent for a moment. He was trying so hard to prove to me that I could trust him, would he go through all this effort just so he could trick me later? Maybe. I didn’t know the man well enough to be sure.

Yet his true form had clearly been a big secret - the pain of the reveal had been evident on his face. I was sure he trusted me. Should I extend the same courtesy? Was he right? Was it time I just blindly trusted someone? I was still on my own here, I needed someone’s help - a friend if I could find one. Could that be Loki?

I opened my eyes and turned to face him. “You’re on probation.” I told him sternly.

“So that’s a yes?”

I returned to my previous position, closing my eyes and tilting my face up to the ceiling. “For now.” I nodded, allowing myself a small smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry its taken me so long to get this next part out - I’ve been trying to slowly work through my pile of requests!
> 
> I’m not particularly happy with this part, it’s rather fluffy and I’m worried Loki is rather out of character… i don’t know… it’s not exactly how I planned the chapter to go… but oh well… i guess…
> 
> Hope you like it anyway! I’d love to know what you think so I can improve!


	13. Skin

Despite my sudden wish to sleep, Loki refused to let me do so until I had finished the plate of food still sat on the bed in front of me. I reluctantly agreed – aware I was still starving as well - provided that he made good on his side of our original deal and explained to me what happened on the night of the fire.

Loki agreed – thankfully no longer pushing for information on my past now – content enough, it seemed, to finally have my, rather shaky, trust. He probably wasn’t going to try to push me any further.

Loki paced the room as he explained, memories returning to me as he spoke, clarifying the vague blurred ones I had dim recollection of. I couldn’t remember anything after having curled up protectively over him on that night, but apparently Loki had regained consciousness shortly afterwards. He had been slightly singed from where the flames had moved in on him before I could pull him away from where had collapsed but found no other damage on his person - somehow protected by a bubble-like shield, the flames and smoke licking up the sides, yet unable to penetrate.

He had thought to rouse me but feared that would put us both in danger – no sure whether the protection would remain if I woke. Instead, he had stayed exactly where he was until the Avengers had finally managed to tackle the blaze, then my still-unconscious body had been moved to the hospital.

I had stopped eating as I listened, too caught up in his words, and Loki now stopped in his tale, looking at me pointedly, refusing to I continue until I took another mouthful.

I obliged him, and he continued to watch me for a few moments before I took another bite and then, now content, Loki carried on.

Loki had apparently been heavily interrogated over what he had apparently ‘done to me’, his denials falling on deaf ears. Thor however, had eventually come to his brother’s rescue - knowing Loki’s true heritage - and claiming that Loki had always struggled with the fire element and would have been past the point of managing any magic.

The conclusion was, then, that I had somehow managed it.

“How is that even possible?” I asked in disbelief.

“You know.” Loki said looking over at me as the idea sunk into my head.

“So, I do have magic?” I breathed, looking down at my hands as though they would suddenly combust into flames.

“Unequivocally.”

“But – I - I’ve never managed to do anything before.” I stated, still staring down at my hands in wonder, looking for any sign of this apparent hidden talent. “And I’ve been trying for years.”

Loki didn’t react to this little insight into my past, seeming to ignore it. “I believe it is strong emotions that brings it out of you – when you get scared or panicked - likely when you’re angry as well.” He informed me, watching my fascination with my hands.

The memory of when I awoke in the medical room returned. I remembered having felt dazed and disorientated, something in me not quite right, then panicking when everyone’s eyes were on me. At that point I felt I lost any control of my body, regressing into my mind, a cloud obscuring my senses and movements.

Loki’s voice had broken through that somehow though, his touch like a cold wave washing over me and slapping me back to myself. It hadn’t lasted though, Loki’s presence suddenly vanishing from my side and I immediately plunged back into the heated storm of my mind. When I sensed him return again I wasn’t willing to risk anything and had desperately searched for his hand, gripping him tightly before I had faded back into unconsciousness.

That had – apparently - been the point that the rest of the people in the room had tried to discuss me again.

My future.

I felt myself tense as Loki spoke, recanting Thor’s questions and the harsh tones of Stark. Loki didn’t tell me exactly what he or the others had said, just that everyone had finally overruled the billionaire’s doubts about me.

“And so, I’m still stuck here?” I asked, glancing back up at Loki. “Until they get this group under control?”

Loki nodded solemnly.

I paused in thought, then dropped my eyes back down to my lap. “Am I a danger?” I asked quietly.

“It’s possible.” Loki admitted, and I appreciated his honesty, painful as it was. “But you won’t be.”

“How? How can you possibly know that?!” I demanded up at him, something in me suddenly snapping.

Loki didn’t seem to react at all at my sudden temper, his face still completely passive. “Because,” He said calmly, looking me straight in the eye. “if you can learn to control it.”

“How can I control it when I didn’t even know I had it?!”

“Practise.” He said simply, now moving from where he had been stood by the window, to my bedside, picking up the now-empty plate away. “But you cannot do that until you are fully recovered.” He told me firmly, the plate suddenly disappearing from his hand in a haze of gold. “Now, you need rest.”

I watched the dish vanish in his grasp, “Fine.” I grumbled, not particularly pleased with his answer, but having to agree with him that I was indeed exhausted. I shifted myself further onto the bed, curling up under the covers, though my gaze remained on Loki, fighting the against the sleep that pulled at my eyelids.

“Are you going to stay?” I finally croaked, watching as Loki now walked around the end of my bed, my mind immediately fearing he was heading for the door.

Loki paused, looking over at me. “If you wish me too.” I nodded, embarrassed by my weakness. It had always been drilled into me to be strong and independent, but I just felt like a terrified, pathetic child right now.

Finally, I had someone to trust – supposedly – and I wasn’t willing to let him leave any time soon.

Loki continued to move around the bed now, but he wasn’t heading for the door, instead he walked to the opposite side of the bed to me, taking up a similar position to the one he had on the first night we’d met - his back against the headboard, legs up on the bed.

I watched him until he settled, then he glanced over me expectantly, raising a brow and I bit my lip, finally turning over and letting myself fall asleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

I was suddenly startled awake, snapping my head over to where Loki sat, finding him nursing his hand.

“Are you alright?” I panted, confused.

“I’m fine,” He said, glancing over at me, though - despite his attempt to hide it - I could see the discomfort in his eyes. “I was attempting to wake you and your skin burnt me.”

“Oh no! I’m so sorry!” I cried in shock, quickly sitting upright, staring down at his injured hand.

“Don’t.” He dismissed firmly, looking down at his injury, his whole arm suddenly glowing a brilliant blue as Loki applied his frost giant powers to the burn. The blue eventually faded away again, back to its usual disguise, and he flexed his fingers experimentally, any sign of pain having dissipated from his face.

“I’m out of control.” I mumbled, dropping my gaze to my lap. I was glad he seemed to have healed himself, but he shouldn’t have needed to in the first place. “Maybe you shouldn’t sit so close.” I muttered shifting slightly away from him.

“Don’t.” Loki nearly growled, and you looked up at him in surprise. “You had a night terror. You were scared. I shouldn’t have been so careless.”

“But you shouldn’t have to worry about touching me.” I pointed out.

Loki seemed slightly taken aback by these words and I felt maybe I crossed a line somehow. “You were scared.” He repeated stiffly, “You defended yourself. There is nothing wrong with that. It is instinct.”

“Did you ever do it?” I suddenly asked.

He frowned in question. “Use magic in sleep?” Loki looked like he was going to deny it, but then caught the look on my face, changing his mind. “Yes.” He sighed lightly. “I did. I nearly froze my m – uh – Freya once when she tried to wake me from a particularly bad nightmare.” He mused to himself, recollecting the night. “It was fortunate that she was even more skilled than I and was able to sense the attack before it came and deflect it.” He muttered. “It took a long time for me to forgive myself.”

“Did you ever do it again?” I murmured. He shook his head. “How?”

“She taught me not to.”

“Can you teach me?” I asked hopefully.

Loki’s eyes snapped to mine. “I – I don’t know.” He admitted, and, from his response, it was clear this wasn’t the first time he had thought about it.

“Would you be willing to try?” I implored gently, shifting closer to him again. “Anything would be better than this - this complete anarchy I feel in me right now.”

“You feel it?” He asked with a look of surprise, though his eyes held overwhelming interest.

I nodded, now knowing it was true. “I didn’t know what it was at first,” I confessed. “ – I – I felt the same in the medical bay when I was panicking and then went weird – n-now it makes sense though - but I still don’t know what to do with it.”

Loki studied me for a moment, eyes flickering over my face. “It seems you have awoken something…” He hummed to himself, seeing something in my eyes. I had to look away, his gaze too intense on mine, instead dropping my eyes to the bed linen that still covered my lap.

I jumped when Loki took one of my hands and I felt a sudden rush of heat to my fingers. The trickster seemed to realise what was going to happen just in time, the hand that held mine suddenly turning its natural bright shade of blue again before he could feel any burn.

Loki still didn’t release my hand though, keeping a firm grip on it and - though he’d warned me that his skin burnt people - I felt nothing but a refreshing coolness on my skin.

“It doesn’t hurt?” He asked, though he already seemed to know the answer.

I shook my head weakly, staring down at where our hands met. When Loki didn’t say anything I glanced up, finding him still studying me. He still didn’t release me, instead bringing his other hand – now also beautifully blue with silver marks and ridges – up and laying it carefully against my cheek.

It was cool, almost cold, but it didn’t hurt.

I felt myself flush at his touch and I had to drop my gaze again. Loki suddenly seemed to realise what he was doing and let his hand drop - though he let the other remain in my lap, holding my hand loosely so I could pull away if I wanted to.

“Our magic is complete opposite.” He muttered, and I felt my heart drop. “But magic is magic. The basics at least - I believe - would be similar.” He paused. “I would be willing to try, if you are.”

My heart suddenly skipped. “You’ll teach me?”

“As much as I can.”

Before I realised what I was doing I had thrown my arms around his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry it’s been a while - I’ve been really distracted over the last few days and this editing has taken me ages for some reason.
> 
> I’m not convinced Loki isn’t ooc, but I’m too tired to edit it any further so I hopes it’s not too bad!


	14. Stop Throwing Things

“Can we just face the fact that I can’t do it?” I sighed heavily, slumping down on the edge of the raised platform in one of the Avenger’s training room. The whole floor was full of different drill rooms - this one in particular had a range of equipment including a rack of different weapons, targets and dummies, a platform with padded mats and a number of punch bags.

It was nice to be out of my room - and conscious – for once, and apparently it would be a regular thing now that my name was basically cleared with the ‘avengers’. The rules were simple - I was allowed nearly full-run of the tower – something I had yet to take advantage of - but I was still banned from setting a foot outside.

Right now, though, I was too annoyed with my uselessness to really appreciate my freedom.

“If you want to give up, I can’t force you to continue,” Loki told me from where he stood near the centre of the room, “But you were the one who wanted to learn to control it.”

“But there’s nothing to control.” I moaned frustrated. Whatever ‘magic’ I had said I felt in me earlier had now seem to fade to the point that I was nearly certain I had just made it up. I had no magic.

I could feel Loki’s eyes on my profile where I sat dejected, elbows on my knees, head down and hands hanging limply between my legs.

Then something suddenly smacked into my arm. “Ow!” I cried, glancing down at where I had just struck before I caught side of the ball that fell off the platform edge and was now rolling away from me. “Did you just throw that at me?!” I demanded up at Loki.

“I was hoping for a bigger reaction then, ‘Ow’.” Loki confessed.

“Sorry to disappoint.” I muttered, turning away from him again, now resting my head in my palms, still feeling Loki’s gaze studying me. I felt the rush of air this time, and, without thinking about it, my hand suddenly shot out from under my chin to grab the handle of the blade that was flying towards me.

There was a pause in the room where everything seemed silent and still, before I turned my head to look bewildered at the weapon now in my hand, my mind trying to catch up with my reactions. I dropped the arm then, looking past it to glare, once more, at Loki. “Are you actually trying to kill me?!”

“No.” He stated innocently. “I was hoping that a more serious assault might spark a more serious response.”

I looked at him in disbelief. Did he know that would happen then? That I’d catch it? What if I hadn’t? Was he just willing to stab me? “Sorry to disappoint you once again.” I growled unhappily. I shook my head in amazement at him.

“Oh, no, on the contrary,” Loki said, seeming rather oblivious to my annoyance, “your reaction was actually rather abnormally fast – for a Midgardian anyway.”

I frowned, looking down at the knife in my hand again. “Probably just my training.” I muttered dismissively, casually flinging the dagger back at him, knowing he’d easily catch - if I even managed to get it to him.

It didn’t fly like I expected it to, however. I thought it would go of course, probably land a few feet in front of Loki, instead though, it shot across the room at him at the same speed that it had flew at me.

My eyes widened as Loki caught it like I had a moment ago, a mild expression of surprise on his face. “Quite an arm on you.” He observed with a smirk.

I swallowed nervously. “I – I uh – don’t – don’t know how I –“

“You’ve never thrown a dagger before?”

“No – I - I have.” I said, furrowing my brow at what had just happened. “I just – uh – well - usually I concentrate,” I blathered, “and it – uh - sometimes – ends up like that.” I waved a hand at where he held the knife, “But I’ve – not – never – uh – thro – thrown it - like that…” I trailed off lamely, dropping my head to look at my hands, feeling oddly shaky.

My hand shot up instinctively once again to catch the knife that was once more hurtling towards my head. “Will you stop it?!” I growled angrily at Loki.

“That,” Loki pointed out, looking decidedly unashamed at his second attempt to mortally wound me. “is not a reaction that can be trained.”

“Fine.” I conceded with a sigh. “I have good reactions, that’s not helping my ability to use magic though.” I grumbled, pushing myself to my feet, the dagger still in my hand. I walked absentmindedly over to the targets that were set up along the wall on my right, each vaguely resembling the figure of a person. I lined myself up with one of them, focusing my aim, then launched the bladder.

It spun cleanly through the air and struck the centre of the target, exactly where I had aimed for. I was disappointed though – the speed wasn’t anywhere near close to what it had been when I had thrown the knife at Loki.

“Good aim.” The trickster commented from behind me and I flinched, having been too concern with my throw to have noticed that he’d moved up behind me.

“Thanks.” I mumbled.

“Not as good as your last throw, though.” He critiqued.

“I know.”

“You’re thinking too much.” He told me matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning at his back as he now walked straight past me. He ignored my question, continuing towards the target and his attention now purely on the dagger embedded into it.

“Loki?” I tried, but he still gave no acknowledgment and I scowled, watching as he examined my hit carefully, then pulled out the blade, looked over it, and then studied the hole it had left behind in the padded dummy. Finally, he glanced back at me, something clearly on his mind.

“What?” I asked when he still didn’t say anything, his gaze making me fidgety.

“Are you annoyed?”

I frowned at the odd question. “Let’s see, shall we?” I muttered sarcastically, “So far, despite my continual attempts, I’ve shown no sign of any magic, I’ve had two daggers randomly thrown at me, I’ve failed to repeat the speed of my previous throw,” I listed, gesturing at the target opposite me, “your being very vague and mysterious about everything and – when I try to ask you a question – you just completely ignore me!” I growled. “So, yeah, I’d say I’m a bit annoyed.”

“Good.” Loki nodded, now walking back towards me, completely unfazed by my little rant, and I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Loki paused in front of me, handing the dagger back, “Throw it again,” He instructed, then paused, still holding the knife out to me, and glanced over at the other targets, “At that one.” He pointed to one that was three dummies down from me. I frowned in confusion at the request but didn’t bother asking - knowing he probably wouldn’t tell me anyway – he just expected me to do it.

I took the knife he offered – just grateful he hadn’t thrown it at me this time – and took aim at the allotted target. I threw it, the speed the same as last time, striking the padded material just slightly off mark - thanks to angle I was at - but only just. It would still have been a killing shot.

Loki, however, frowned at my work, now striding over to the mannequin-like object and proceeding to study my work again, repeating his previous actions. He pulled the dagger from the target and then walked back to me looking decidedly disappointed.

“You weren’t annoyed.” He stated – there was no question.

I frowned. “I –“ I began to argue, but I stopped. “No,” I finally admitted, “I guess I was more confused that time.”

He nodded at my confession, though he continued to frown, eying the knife as he spun smoothly in his fingers. “I need you to be angry or annoyed.”

“Why?” I asked, but Loki didn’t say anything, didn’t even look up from the blade as he continued to fiddle with it. What a surprise, I scowled. “Fine.” I snapped, snatching the blade out of his hand, not caring if I accidentally cut him by doing so, and, without pausing to try to aim or ready myself, I flicked it in one smooth motion, back at the target.

Before I could even register I had released the knife, the blade was already embedded in the foot of the wooden post that held the mannequin up. I felt my mouth open slightly – the speed of the throw even faster than the one I had launched at Loki earlier – but the target then proceeded to burst into flames and I didn’t know what to think anymore.

“Ha.” You heard Loki chuckle next to you as you stood frozen in shock.

“You didn’t know that would happen?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“No,” Loki chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “I saw there were scorch marks where the knife made contact with the first target,” He explained, “I was just hoping for you to replicate that.” He admitted, as both of you watched, stunned, as the flames licked and crawled up the fabric dummy.

There was something odd about this fire – it didn’t seem to be spreading, despite its easy ability to. “Uh – should – should we put it out?” I asked Loki after a while, still concerned despite the fact the flames didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

“Can you?” Loki asked, suddenly looking across as me, intrigued.

I felt my eyes widened, I hadn’t thought about that. “H-how would I?” I asked meekly.

“Well, do you feel you have any control over the flames? At all?”

“Uh -,”I thought about it for a moment. There was a certain power being emitted by the flames that I could feel, but to say I felt any control over it couldn’t be further from the truth. “Not – not really.” I admitted.

Now that I had tried to tune into its power, though, the small bonfire seemed to be calling out to me like a beacon, pulling me towards it. I couldn’t – or didn’t – want to resist and I took a tentative step towards it. I felt Loki’s eye flicker back to me as I began to move across the room, but he made no attempt to stop me.

The heat from the flames reached me much sooner than I thought it would - as though it was living off of more than a quickly disintegrating training dummy and had been burning for hours rather than seconds. The heat would probably have been overwhelming for anyone else by the time I reached the target, but, for me, it was comforting - like snuggling into a warm duvet when you had been freezing. I the urge to reach out and touch the flames, to stroke them lovingly, and yet, nothing in me told me that was a stupid thing to do.

The flames licked my hand, caressing them, but causing no pain or harm to my skin – it felt like dipping my hand into a pool of warm water. I touched the blacken mannequin behind the flames and the material crumbled, barely more than ash now, forcing the to retreat downwards where the remnants of its fuel remained. I knelt with it, feeling its want for more - to be allowed to stretch beyond where I had somehow confined it - to let it feed off more and grow stronger.

The urge to let it rose within me and I could see the boundaries of the flames widening as I thought about it, already starting to chew its way along the training floor.

“[Y/N].” I heard Loki call through where the flames seem to smoke and fog out my mind. I snapped my head up and the flames stopped their slow crawl, content to linger in the small new area they had been given.

I glanced behind me to where Loki still stood, though I was sure he had retreated slightly. His face was mixture of amazement, curiosity and concern, but I also didn’t miss the slight trace of fear in his eyes.

The flames. He was a Frost Giant.

If normal fire weakened him, who knew what magical flames would do.

I suddenly felt very guilty at even allowing the fire to spread the few inches it had.

Loki seemed to gather himself together again now he’d snapped me out of my daze. “You have released it from its bounds and you have stopped it.” Loki stated, nodding at the fire. “Now, try to put it out.”

I broke my gaze from his, looking back to the fire. The minute I fully focused, I once again felt its need to keep spread and keep feeding filling my mind. It begged, it pleaded. It was greedy, but I had to deny it now - for Loki’s sake more than anything else, but also to prove to myself that I could.

I shook my head at the fire in a silent no, denying it’s hunger. One day it could feed. But not now. The flames brightened, rising taller for a moment as though angered by refusal, but then it began to dim again, the flames retracting further and further into the ash pile that was what remained of the training mannequin, the floor around it blackened and singed. Eventually, only a ball of fire remained, small enough to fit easily in my palm.

Without thinking I scooped it up, allowing the ash to fall through my fingers like sand. There was nothing for the fire to feed off of in my hand expect me, but it didn’t burn or eat away at my skin, instead I felt a similar feeling to what I had before – that rush of something in my veins – and the flames drew energy off this.

I pushed myself slowly and carefully to my feet once more - the small fire crackling happily away, content to sit in my palm - and turned to face Loki across the room. I tore my eyes away from the flames to look up at him and he gave me a small knowing smile and I couldn’t help grinning back ridiculously.

I was doing it.

This wasn’t normal. 

This was magic.

This was me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a relatively short one I feel like, compared to some of my others, but I hope you like it anyway - I’ve been ill and sleep deprived over the last few days so I apologise for any glaring mistakes in it, or any ooc things.


	15. Firepit

“And you swear that you didn’t bewitch the dagger?” I asked again as we walked down the corridors of the tower as the sun rose.

“Haven’t we already covered this?” Loki asked impatiently.

“I’m just struggling to believe it or you.”

“Didn’t we agree that you were going to start trusting me?”

I mumbled something sullen and indistinct, eyes on the floor as we now stepped into the elevator. “How come I haven’t managed to do it again then?” I asked after a brief moment of silence between us, my mind unable to drop it.

“Once again,” Loki said as the lift pinged its arrival on our selected floor, “Overthinking.”

We stepped out into the large communal living floor, the room was still dark, barely lit by the newly rising sun as it’s rays filtered through the other skyscrapers of New York city.

Loki made his way towards the kitchen without a word, but I remained where I was, gazing around the room. I’d only been in here once – when Barton had snuck me out of my room whilst Stark had been away – and I didn’t really get a chance to appreciate the room or the view, having been too on edge with the whole situation I had recently landed myself in.

Now though, especially with Loki, I was far more relaxed and took my time to truly look at what was around me. The room was empty apart from us, Loki was still busying himself in the ‘kitchen’ I had learnt about as my eyes combed the room. I noted the newly discovered TV technology again and the plush sofas that surrounded it, looking forward to possibly being able to watch the odd cartoons again.

Behind the lounge area, the wall was made of white brick which, just below the midpoint, had a large hole cut out of it. I frowned at it, confused what it’s use could possibly be, and resolved to question Loki about it later. I stepped further into the room now turning my gaze to the right where there was a large modern dining table lined with chairs, behind which was a wall made entirely of glass and two large glass doors that lead out onto a stone balcony.

The view beyond these windows immediately mesmerised me and I began to walk over to the doors, peering through them until I dared to push them open, wanting to feel the fresh air and get a better view.

I breathed in a gulp of the fresh air, relishing the coldness in my throat and lungs, and only remembering once having done so before.

The day I was moved. The day I had been bundled out of the room I knew as home, a blindfold over my eyes, and helped into what I later found out to be a Hydra van. The day that the van had been hit, that I had somehow fallen out it and collided painfully with the floor. For a moment then, I had gulped the same fresh air - though I now recalled it being tainted with burning metal and smoke.

Now though, my height over the city and the early hours of the day, meant the air I breathed was as close as I could get to pure and I had never tasted something so fresh and revitalising.

I ignored the biting cold wind that howled around me, pulling at the baggy material of my shirt and whipping me hair, and stepped further out onto the balcony. For a moment, the thought of if I was technically breaking the rules of my captivity by being ‘out of the tower’ crossed my mind, but I dispelled it, not caring in that moment.

I grew cautious as I moved closer to the edge of the stone platform, suddenly very aware of the size of the drop should I fall, but it didn’t stop my feet and I was soon at the clouded glass barriers, leaning on the metal railing and staring out over the city sprawled out below.

I had seen it in pictures, but an image could never convey the same feeling I now got as I watched the silent streets, the early hour meaning there were no pedestrians in sight and only two cars ghosted down the empty streets in the whole time I watched.

Something about it felt like the lull before a storm.

“Here.” The voice next to me made me jump, not having realised that Loki had walked up behind me and was now handing me a glass of water.

“Oh,” I mumbled, embarrassed by how easily startled I was. “Thank you.” I took the drink from him and turned back to face the city again. Loki followed suit, moving further forward to stand by the railing as well

I absentmindedly took a sip of the water, suddenly realising how thirsty I was and gulping the rest of the glass down. I noticed Loki shooting me a knowing look and I scowled lightly, turning my attention back on the view. “This is only the second time I’ve been outside.” I told him, changing the subject.

There was a pause before Loki said anything, as though he was taking this in, processing it. “When was the first?” He finally asked, completely calm, as those this declaration hadn’t fazed him in the slightest.

“When I fell out of the truck.” Again, there was a paused as Loki digested the information. I wanted him to say something. Tell me I was lying, that I must be crazy, that no one could spend as many years as I had locked in a building, never going outside – something I hadn’t realised until I had suddenly been thrown into the world.

“Why?” Was all he eventually asked, now glancing down at me.

I didn’t look at him though, my eyes on the buildings laid out in front of me, though I didn’t see them. “I don’t know.” I confessed. “I was never offered the opportunity. I was told about, taught about it,” I explained, “shown pictures and trained in simulators. But I never truly went.”

We lapsed into silence for a few moments before Loki spoke again, seeming to be testing how much I was willing to tell him. “Was there just the one room?” He asked.

I shook my head. “No, there was definitely more than one,” I said, thinking back, “but I can’t really say how many.” I frowned out at the city as I thought about. “The thing was, the rooms always looked the same – same size, same shape - but the things in them would change.” I explained, “I don’t know if it was one room that they always just moved things around in, or if it was many different rooms.”

I wasn’t sure why I was suddenly opening up to Loki, but I had promised I would trust him, and for some reason it felt right. After all, maybe these were the good guys? Maybe I had been on the wrong side, maybe I could put something right? Loki certainly gave me no impression of being a bad guy - despite what he told me.

I almost felt willing to say more - had Loki asked - but he didn’t seem to want to push his luck on my openness. “Are you cold?” He asked instead as a particularly strong gust of wind blew across the balcony.

“No.” I said, shaking my head, still looking out at the streets. “It’s refreshing.” I admitted as another breeze ruffled my hair. I then glanced over at him, frowning as I eyed him up and down. “Are you?”

“No.” He answered, “The concept of ‘cold’ doesn’t really exist for me.” He murmured, a smirk playing on his lips, and - as if to remind me why – the hand of his that rested closest to mine on the railing began to turn its natural shade of Frost Giant blue. I gawked as I always did when Loki showed me his true self, but now I noticed that the metal under his palm was freezing over at his touch.

Of course. How could you get cold when you were practically made of ice? I imagined that his body probably naturally ran at sub-zero temperatures.

Loki withdrew his hand from the railing, yet the ice remained - the early morning air too cool to begin melting it yet. “Try and thaw it.” He instructed, nodding at the ice.

“I thought we were done with teaching for the day.” I pointed out sceptically.

He tilted his head in annoyance. “Humour me.”

I frowned at him but did it anyway, laying my hand exactly where his had been a moment ago. I watched as the natural heat of my body begin to melt some of it anyway, slick water forming under my palm, but the outer edges of the patch still stubbornly remained frozen.

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing - or what Loki expected me to be doing - and for a while I just watched my hand, but nothing amazing happened.

Not that I was surprised.

I frowned at my hand, trying to picture the feeling of power I had felt when playing with the flames earlier, the feeling of energy that had flowed through me when the miniature fire had burnt in my palm. But I couldn’t seem to get that sensation back or anything close to it. I was quickly becoming frustrated.

“Stop thinking.” Loki murmured from where he now stood slightly behind me. I scowled at this - how could I stop thinking?! What was the opposite of thinking?! Feeling. I had to focus on the moment, on the coldness under my hand. The ice should be irritating, painful even, it should numb my skin, yet it didn’t. Instead, my palm remained warm and I focused on that heat that naturally radiated from my skin, trying to imagine pushing it out further, spreading it across the metal. I felt my whole-body tense as I focused almost too hard.

Suddenly cold hands gripped my upper arms. “Relax.” Muttered a voice but it sounded far away, like trying to listen through a wall. I felt my arms going cold under Loki’s touch, but it just made it easier to focus on the warmth that remained in my palm, channelling all the heat left in my body to that one focal point and desperately urging the small patch of ice to melt.

“[Y/N]!” The call barely broke through the smoke that fogged my mind once again, but then I was abruptly wrenched backwards from the barrier and I felt myself stumble drunkenly, my legs completely numb and everything seeming to go black.

When I came to again I was painfully aware of how freezing I was, and I blinked dumbly looking around, momentarily confused about my surroundings. “Ma’am?” I called blindly, suddenly noticing the height I was at, the city laid out miles below, and forgetting the balcony I was stood on - my mind jumping to the conclusion that I was just somehow suspended in the air. I flailed, my hands finding something solid behind me and gripping it tightly, closing my eyes and curling into it and the comforting heat it gave me. I pulled myself tighter to it and, whatever it was, gripped me back, pulling me with it as it moved backwards, but my frozen legs made it impossible to walk and I staggered before I suddenly found myself being lifted up and cradled against the solid figure. I was vaguely aware of being moved and hitting a wall of warm air that felt like I had been plunged into hot water, my skin tingling uncomfortably.

The next thing I was aware of was soft cushions beneath me and the solidness that held me trying to withdraw but I gripped it tighter, not wanting to lose its heat. I felt myself lifted and adjusted before the cushions sagged next to me and I found myself now leaning against the solid figure, curled closely into it, sensation slowly returning to my body starting from my core.

I was dimly aware of a voice murmuring something close by and then I was moving again, cradled close to the solid figure briefly before I was then placed on something that felt like stone, arranged to sit against the warmth figure once more, now with a raging heat on my back.

I continued to gain more and more sensation in my limbs but continued to fall in and out of conscious and I wasn’t sure how long had passed before I blinked my eyes open to see the living room of the Avenger’s tower in front of me. I once again became aware of the comforting heat on my back and the fact that I was clinging onto to something next to me which was, in turn, clinging back. It suddenly hit me what the thing next to me - that I was gripping so tightly – was, and I felt the cold skin of my cheeks warm before I had even glanced up to confirm that, yes, I was in fact curled into Loki. My fingers were locked into a frozen rigor mortis-like grip on the lapels of his armour cloak and, Loki himself, had one arm looped around my waist, holding me close to him.

I glanced up silently at Loki, but he wasn’t looking at me, instead his head was tipped back against the stone wall behind, his eyes closed and his face looking rather drained and weary. Despite my own condition, I immediately sat more upright in concern. “Loki?” I croaked, worriedly.

His head snapped up instantly, eyes finding mine urgently. Now I could see his face better I could truly see how ill he looked, his face gaunt and shadowy as though he hadn’t slept for a few days and his pale skin was coated in a thin sheen of sweat. “Are you alright?” He asked down at me.

“Are you alright?” I asked back in shock.

“That wasn’t my question.” He muttered, annoyed, but I ignored him, weakly shuffling myself around to face him and immediately shivering as the parts of my body that had been leant against him, warm, were now exposed to the relatively cool air of the room. Loki frowned as he watched me move but couldn’t seem to move to stop me. I was confused as to why until I suddenly realised where we were – sat on the ledge of the hole in the white stone wall of the living room. Only now, it wasn’t an empty hole in the wall anymore, it was a firepit, the flames tall and hot.

“What are you doing?!” I demanded, though my voice was hoarse. “How long have you been sat here?!”

“About half an hour.” He muttered weakly, leaning his head back against the wall again, but his eyes remained on me.

“Well move!” I cried in exasperation, trying to stand up, and Loki had to reach out a hand to steady me - my feet still so numb so that I couldn’t feel them to stabilise myself. I used the hand he gave to pull at him weakly, but that just made my already-shaky balance worse and Loki noticed this, rising to his feet shakily to stop me pulling – though he himself didn’t look particularly steady either.

“Sit back down.” He told me as sternly as he could in his condition, his hand still in mine.

“I will if you move.” I grumbled back, pulling at him weakly again - though I knew it wasn’t doing anything. Loki scowled and stepped around me, before then helping me backwards - despite my protests - till I was perched back onto the stone ledge, close to the fire again. I watched him sternly as he then stepped gratefully away from the heat, moving over to the sofas and letting himself collapse – somehow still managing to look smooth and regal – into the opposite corner of the long couch, allowing his illusion to drop and his skin turn its natural, ridged blue. He didn’t make a sound, but his whole body seemed to relax in relief.

Content that Loki was now fine, I let myself back relax as well, welcoming the heat on my back and swing my body from side to side to let the warmth reach as much of my body as possible, though the cold still lingered. I shuffled myself back further, seeking more heat and Loki glanced over at my movement – probably worried I was going to try to move away from the fire again - but then relaxed when he saw it was a false alarm.

“So,” I finally muttered wearily, wrapping my arms tightly against my chest in a poor attempt to keep myself warm, “what – what happened?”

Loki glanced over at me again. “You focused too energy much on thawing the barrier,” He critiqued me, “and it would appear that you transferred all of the heat from your body into it.” He said. “The metal itself went red hot, but your whole body went to ice and you briefly passed out from it.” I nodded numbly - all this vaguely matching with my dim recollection of the events. “When you were conscious again you were confused…” He stated looking over me, with a frown, thinking about something.

“I remember feeling like I was falling.” I muttered, recalling what now felt like a fading dream. “I remember scrambling for purchase and I grabbed something… It was solid and warm…” I hummed at the memory. My eyes glanced back at Loki. “That was you…”

“You found me warm?” Loki frowned. I nodded, and his lip quirked. “I’ve never been called warm about anything.” He smirked weakly before his frown returned. “I was confused by your hold - you were so cold I was worried my presence was only making I worse…” He confessed, his eyes concerned. “It did confuse me, despite how cold you were, you clung to a Frost Giant.”

I could feel my cheeks heat again at how pathetic I had been, gripping at the man like a frightened infant. It had been self-preservation though, that was all. I had needed the heat. That would also explain why - even now - I still half wished Loki was over here by my side. I was still heat deprived. There was no other reason.

“I brought you back inside in an attempt to warm you,” Loki continued to explain, his eyes now staring, unseeing, at the coffee table in front of him, “but your core temperature was very slow to respond to the change. I had hope that the fire might help.” He explained, gesturing vaguely at where the flames crackled softly behind me. I shuffled myself closer to the fire, seeking more heat and now sitting right on the edge of the firepit, though no risk to my person crossed my mind. “I – uh – I am deeply and truly sorry for forcing you into such a situation.” I mumbled guilty, feeling selfish and practically cruel for compelling him to remain by such heat for so long.

Loki shook his head where he sat. “It was my fault in the first place,” He muttered, “I should know well the risk of messing with uncontrolled magic. Anything could happen, and I was unprepared. I shouldn’t play so haphazardly with other’s lives – my own is fine to risk, but yours…” He trailed off. “That is unacceptable, and I owe you an apology.”

I was amazed at what he was saying. Was he really claiming responsibility for this?! I wanted to yell at him about how ridiculous he was being, but instead I settled simply with asking if he was sure he was ok.

“Brief bouts of heat I can handle.” He reassured me, “I am already practically back to full health.” He said confidently, and he was - his face already looked fuller and bright and he now pushed himself up straighter, no noticeable sign of weakness in his movements, though I didn’t ignore the fact that he chose to remain in his true form, the visible silver and blue ridges of his skin shining in the early morning sun that was now much stronger.

I edged further back towards the fire, the sight of his icy skin alone sending a shiver through my body. Loki frowned at me, “Are you sure that you’re ok?”

“I’m fine.” I said quickly, not wanting him to come any nearer to the fire that was letting out so much heat.

He raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. “Are you sure?” He asked, the corners of his lips twitching knowingly. “Because you are now actually sitting in the fire.” He pointed out.

I frowned in confusion and glanced down, now realising that my hands - which had been resting on the stone tiles next to my hip - were now in fact still by my hip but were also being licked at by flames beneath them. I had shuffled myself so far back, as I sought for more heat, that I was now sat half in the firepit.

Yet I hadn’t felt a thing and neither my jeans nor shirt had caught light. Instead, I just felt a wonderful soothing warmth - like stepping into a perfectly hot bath.

I glanced back up, wide eyed, at Loki who smirked back at my amazement. I glanced back down at my lap, suddenly realising what I had sub-consciously been trying to do the entire time I had been slowly shuffling backwards. I shot Loki one last look, trying desperately to supress my grin, before I did something completely crazy and pushed myself the rest of the way back until I finally sat cross-legged in the centre of the fire.

Immediately my ears were filled with the roaring of the flames and I finally felt satisfyingly warm, letting myself sigh in relief.

“Better?” I heard Loki call over the crackling and hissing and I focused in on him again, the noises around me suddenly dying down till they were barely a distraction, and the flames directly in front of me parting so I had a clear sight of Loki where he still sat on the sofa.

“So much better.” I sighed with a content smile and Loki smirked at me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, Ive been umming and ahhing about this part for a while now. Tbh I’m not 100% happy with it - I’m worried it’s really bad writing and Loki is ooc, but I’m tired and tbh this part isn’t actually really that necessary for the overall story - it’s really just a filler - so if you want to skip over it I don’t blame you!
> 
> I’m going to spend some time actually trying to come up with a slightly planned plot with this series so that I don’t end up with random chapters like this…


	16. Ma'am

I woke up abruptly, the voice still echoing in my ears. I glanced around, looking for the person who had been speaking in my ear and I was suddenly aware of where I was. I was still sat in the fireplace, the flames still licking up my legs and encasing me in an orange glow.

How long had I been asleep?

I looked towards where I knew the lounge was, the flames automatically parting again to allow me a clear view. The room was filled with midday light and empty from what I could see apart from a pair stretched towards me on the sofa that was side-on from where I sat. The feet were crossed at the ankle and propped up on the arm of the chair, the long black boots seeming familiar.

Loki.

He was still here.

I shifted stiffly where I sat to now swing my legs out of the fireplace before going to push myself out. The fire sensed my departure and seemed to try to cling to me, to pull me back in, but I ignored their calls and soothing strokes, edging myself further out of the alcove, and the flames gave up, receding back and eventually flickering out completely as I landed on my numb feet.

“[Y/N]?” I heard the familiar voice call behind me and I turned back to the lounge, finding Loki now rearranging himself on the sofa. “Are you alright?” He asked, and I was surprised at what seemed like genuine concern in his voice.

“H-how long was I – uh - asleep?” I stuttered out, my voice croaky from lack of use as I glanced between the fireplace and him in confusion.

Loki’s lips seemed to twitch as he swung his legs back to the floor, shifting so he sat properly on the sofa. “About 30 hours.” He admitted, now watching my face for my reaction, but all I could was blink dumbly back at him.

“30 hours?” I repeated.

Loki nodded, his face expressionless. “We had hoped when the fire died out that would be enough to rouse you,” He admitted, “but the flames persisted even after the fuel source depleted.” He explained. “I believe that, at that point, it was in fact using you as a source of fuel.” He confessed, his eyes flickering over me with interest. “Are you sure you are alright?” He asked again after a pause.

“Yeah.” I frowned, nodding my head, though even I knew I didn’t sound that convincing. I was fine though, physically, I was just very confused. I felt lighter though, like I’d had something weighing on my shoulders, but it was gone now – but I hadn’t done anything, had I simply forgotten what it was? “W-Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked, glancing down at my body, checking I hadn’t grown an extra limb or something.

“No…” Loki murmured with furrowed brows. “You just… look different.” He confessed, continuing to frown at me, clearly annoyed he couldn’t place it. I crossed my arms over my chest self-consciously, unable to stop myself glancing over body once again, convinced I must have missed something.

Suddenly I felt something. I could only describe it as some sort of energy – an energy that felt familiar, though I was unaware of ever having felt energy before. It triggered my memory though, reminding me of the voice I had heard earlier, and I glanced back up at Loki. “Has anyone else been in here?”

Loki frowned at the question, puzzled. “Not for several hours now.” He told me. “My brother and Stark did walk past talking quite animatedly a while ago, but that didn’t seem to disturb you.”

“Nothing before I just woke up?” I clarified almost desperately – I didn’t exactly want to be hearing voices that didn’t exist.

Loki’s frowned deepened at this. “No.” He murmured. “What have you been hearing?”

I glanced around the room, was I going insane? “I thought I heard… - Well it sounded like Ma’am.” I confessed reluctantly. “She was talking to me.”

“It was most likely a dream.” Loki suggested, though he still seemed to be eying me with me interest.

I stared out the window, lost in my mind. “She said-,” I murmured. “She was coming for-“ I stopped as I felt it again, that weird energy. That familiar energy. It was stronger now, like it was getting closer, and I turned to where I felt it seemed to be coming from, my eyes on the air just in front of the large screen TV.

A breeze came now, ruffling mine and Loki’s hair and my eyes widened as a dark shadow seemed to swirl in the air in front of my eyes, forming a spinning smoky circle which then began to enlarge as I watched in frozen amazement.

Loki however, wasn’t paralysed like I was, and seemed to recognise what was happening, his hands suddenly on my shoulders and pulling me back away from the cloudy mass. I blinked as I stumbled, glancing back at Loki. “What are yo-“ I tried to ask, but then I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and turned back to see a tall, imposing, women step out the weird swirling mist, her long, tangled black hair cascading down her slender shoulders and eyes sharply outlined in black eyeliner against her pale skin.

“Ma’am?” I croaked out in amazement, Loki no longer pulling at me, having seen it was too late now and I seemed to be stuck in place.

“My dear girl!” Ma’am crooned with an adoring smile at me, “I’ve finally found you!” She exclaimed, holding her hands out to me. I grinned in relief at the familiar face, automatically going to step towards her embrace, but found myself being held in place by Loki’s grip still on my arm.

I frowned back at my anchor, “Loki –“ I protested, pulling at my arm again, but his hold didn’t loosen and I felt my temper flare at him denying me the chance to see Ma’am. Suddenly Loki jerked his hand back like I’d burnt him, gasping in pain and shaking his hand. I noticed his skin turn blue for a moment before it faded back to its usual pale colour, his face relaxing again.

“Ah, so it’s true!” Ma’am exclaimed happily, “My little firecracker had finally come into her powers…” She said, her eyes now travelled over to Loki with look of wicked amusement. “And how ironic that it would all be thanks to you – the would-be brother…” She drawled.

“Sister.” Loki muttered darkly in greeting, glowering definitely back at her. Sister? My head screamed as I glanced back and forth between Ma’am and Loki. I remembered Loki mentioning a sister once, but I knew Loki wasn’t related to Thor, so was Ma’am? Or was Ma’am a Frost Giant?

Ma’am smiled sweetly back at Loki. “This should make your death far more entertaining.” She mused wickedly, and I glanced to Loki worriedly. His death? Why was he going to die? Why was it entertaining? I frowned at Ma’am, what was going on?

“Brother!” Loki now called loudly, not taking his eyes off Ma’am, his look wary but defiant.

“Calling for back-up? How pitiful.” Ma’am simpered. “Your big brother can’t save you - even the two of you combined couldn’t lay a scratch on me.” She taunted him, but I was almost certain what she was saying wasn’t a bluff.

I didn’t think Thor could possibly have heard Loki, not knowing where he was, but then the thunder god was suddenly striding into the room, puzzled until he noticed Ma’am, suddenly stopping in his tracks. “Hela.” He growled, and I noticed his fingers flex tautly, though, when nothing happened, the god’s face fell as he remembered the destruction of his precious hammer.

Hela grinned cruelly, noticing his reflex movement. “Haven’t quite got over the loss of your toy yet, have you?” Thor didn’t say anything, just glaring at her as he tried to come up with a new plan. “Now.” Hela declared, clapping her hands together. “As much as this is a perfect opportunity to deal with the two of you, I can easily make another…” She mused to herself, completely at ease despite the two gods glaring daggers at her. “And what would make this far more amusing, is a little more suspense…” She thought to herself aloud, tapping her chin with a long thin finger. “So, you know what? Yes,” She nodded, “I think we’ll postpone this particular execution for later…” She drawled, nodding her head. “For now, I’ll just take my little [Y/N] here,” She said, flicking her wrist towards me, “home with me and I’ll return for you two later - once you’ve suffered a bit more first.” She decided.

I felt Loki and Thor’s eyes watching my face now I suddenly didn’t know what to do. Ma’am was my automatic choice here – she had been my rock for so long – the thing that never changed, the person who had raised me. But a lot of the things she was saying now confused me. Kill Loki and Thor? Why? There was no need, they hadn’t done anything! Maybe she thought they had kidnapped me? Well – technically - they had, but they hadn’t meant it maliciously. And did Ma’am – or ‘Hela’ – know about HYDRA? Did she know she was working with bad people?

My head hurt, and I didn’t know what to do. “[Y/N]. Come.” Hela was beckoning me to her side and towards the portal that stood open behind her. I glanced back at the men whose eyes were clearly screaming no at me. I knew Hela was powerful though, I knew her temper from when I was a rebellious teenager like everyone else. I couldn’t disobey her, it wasn’t in me to do so – I had been taught to obey - and, if I stayed on her good side, maybe I could convince her not to execute my new friends - as long as they didn’t try to stop you leaving.

My eyes must have given my decision away because Loki bowed his head in resigned defeat, knowing there was nothing he could do. “No.” Thor growled, and I just dropped my head, not wanting to see their disappointment as I now turned back to Hela. I felt movement behind me as Thor went to reach to grab for me, but Loki held him back, knowing it would only make more trouble if there was any resistance.

Hela laid a possessive hand on my shoulder once I was within reach and I knew she likely shooting Thor and Loki a triumphant, smug look at this victory, but I didn’t want to see it, nor the effect it would have on the men I had begun to think of as friends. Instead, I kept my head down, letting Hela steer me forward, not even allowing myself to take one last look around the tower, closing my eyes as I stepped through the portal and into wherever it led.

Hela went to follow [Y/N] but paused as the girl disappeared in front of her, instead turning to look back at her ‘brothers’. “Say hello to your other little friends for me.” She called back with a rather dainty, girlish wave, “Or don’t.” She shrugged as an afterthought, before finally stepping through the portal.

Loki finally released Thor who immediately lunged after Hela’s back as she, and the portal, disappeared, leaving them alone in the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I apologise how long it has been since I last posted a part to this story, but my motivation has been lacking severely for this series for some reason! I was disappointed in my last part and I’m a bit disappointed in this part too! I know it’s not great and I know it’s quite ooc, but I really want to finish this series so I can put it behind me and move on :/
> 
> Anyway, hope it’s not actually as terrible as I think it is! But, who knows!


	17. Part 17

Any joy I felt at the reunion with ma’am or Hela - or whatever I was now supposed to call her - was lost just as quickly whenever I thought back to what I had left behind. I had found a freedom at the tower – despite my prisoner-like experience at times – that I had never had at any other point in my life. Not only that, but I’d like to think I had made some semblance of friends which was something that, despite most likely her best attempts, I could never attribute with Ma’am. 

But now, once again, I was back into confinement. I had to confess it was nothing like before. Yes, I was still limited to only two rooms – a living quarters and training room that only seemed to differ from my previous accommodation by the more fanciful interior – but I was no longer escorted and followed by numerous guards between the rooms. It also seemed that Ma’am no longer saw a reason to hide me away from the world unlike previously and I was now granted the luxury of windows for the first time.

I spent a lot of my free time – of which I had plenty – staring out at the views that were available to me. There were two windows in my living quarters, the largest one allowing me to perch on the stone window ledge where I would then lean my head against glass as I stared out, my breath fogging vision if I got too close.

I would often think back on the day I stepped through the portal in the tower - not allowing myself to look back on what I was leaving – following Ma’am’s instructions rather than Loki and Thor’s pleading looks. But, as I thought on it, my reasoning in that moment was clear. Partly, I had simply not been willing to deny the guardian who had raised me for as long as I could remember, but I also knew that by leaving, I was doing the only thing I could in that moment to ensure the safety of two princes. I wasn’t wholly ignorant of Hela’s abilities - despite the fact I don’t believe I have ever seen the true extent of them – and to resistant or provoke her seemed foolish.

But it never left my mind that I had likely only delayed the sibling’s inevitable confrontation.

On stepping through the portal’s doorway though, I had stepped straight into my current living quarters. I had seemed to realise instantly – somehow - that I was no longer on Earth. My surroundings suddenly seemed to have an almost ‘foreign’ feel to them - like everything was suddenly sharper, clearer, brighter – almost as though I had just popped out the lenses in my eyes and given them a polish for the first time in my life. My suspicions over my whereabouts were soon confirmed when, a brief moment later, Ma’am had appeared behind me and welcomed me to Asgard with a flourish of her arms.

Of course, the Asgard Ma’am was showing me was what I soon after found out to be my room in the palace that sat tall and proud above the rest of the realm. If Hela hadn’t told me this though, I would have quickly deduced this merely from the views out the windows - even if they were not much.

And they weren’t sadly.

The largest window in my room – the one with the window seat-like ledge – would have looked straight out over the landscape below, if there were any landscape to see. Instead, a thick fog had settled in the valley under my window and lay there day in and day out, hardly shifting except to occasionally expose a lone rooftop when the wind picked up. Even then though, the sheer rain that fell consistently from the heavens often blurred my vision to the point that the whole scene simply became a smudged, unfocused canvas.

That didn’t stop me staring out of the glass for hours on end though.

I quickly became aware that the weather here never changed. Every day, light would filter through one layer of clouds to fall on those already sat snuggly below my window, and every day the rain would still be failing - sometimes in heavy sheets, sometimes in a light mist – and – depending on the wind - sometimes straight down, sometimes horizontally. It was the only thing that seemed to drag me out of bed sometimes – to see what the rain was doing.

I always hoped for a strong wind. That would mean – if I was lucky and got my timing right – that the fog in the valley might shift enough to allow for a new section of the city to be revealed to me – if only for the briefest moment. In my mind’s eye, I would then take a snap shot of this and add it to the picture I was slowly building in my head of the glory that was the city hidden below the thick layer of cloud.

That was how I spent a lot of my time. Sat on my window ledge, head pressed against the glass whilst I made the flames from the nearby torches curl around my shoulders like a warm scarf, dreaming of the lives that filled the streets below. I had always been taught more of Asgard than of Earth - despite all my years on the realm known as Midgard - and so I had admittedly felt quite a rush of excitement when I first arrived in the palace. That excitement had died away quite quickly when I realised just how little was available to me, but it didn’t stop me imagining what I couldn’t see – the happy civilians bustling through busy markets, visiting the large colourful public gardens where exotic flowers and fruit tress grew, or laughing raucously in the homely inns on each street corner.

“Can you tell me more about Asgard?” I had tried to ask Ma’am once when she paid me a visit to my little room in the palace.

“My dear, what more can you possibly need to know?” She had asked in surprise at the request. “You’ve swallowed every book I’ve given you on the subject.”

I had insisted on wanting to know more about now, rather than the realm’s history – on the people, how they lived, what the streets were like, the food, the entertainment, the jobs, the _lives._

“Miserable at the moment.” Ma’am had told me in response without any shame and in a tone that clearly stated it was the people’s fault. “And they will continue to be until they learn to bend the knee to their new ruler.” She had stated firmly.

I had reread the books that ma’am had given me after that - most of them history documents - skimming to the last pages where the information was the most recent and modern. There, the words spoke of Hela, Goddess of Death, Queen of Asgard, the rightful heir to the throne after Odin’s death, but I could sense the magic in the text and would run my fingers over it knowing that this was clearly a new addition - if not alteration - in the book.

The one thing I never found in any scroll or volume – despite rigorous searching of every page – was any word on Loki or Thor Odinson. No birth, no death. It was like they had never existed.

I had gone on to ask Ma’am, after that, why the people were so miserable. I had dreaded asking the question - knowing the answers would only burst the little bubble fantasy I had conjured in my mind of an almost doll-house-like perfection of the city nestled beneath the mists - but my curiosity won over.

Hela had told me how the citizens resisted her ruling. How they had stolen from her. She’d been vague about this crime at first, but later gone on, under my persistent questioning, to reveal it was the Bifrost sword that had been taken. But who or to where, she did not know, though she’d assured me firmly that she would find out by any means necessary.

Today, that meant food being cut off from the villages. Tomorrow, it would mean questioning people.

On seeing the look on my face at this, Ma’am had assured me not to worry about it in her sickly-sweet voice she put on when trying to act in a motherlike fashion, stroking my cheek with her cold hand in her affectionate-like way. It was hard not to shudder when she touched me. Her hands were cold, yes, but it wasn’t the same cold as when Loki touched me. His skin was icy, even in his Asgardian form, but I could still feel the life thriving within him. Ma’am’s hand felt more like the hand of corpse – a limb of the dead, something that would drag you down into cold frozen wars rather than the icy electric shock Loki seemed to send through me.

“You, my dear, are my secret weapon.” She had told me then, “Train hard, rest well. Your time with come – I can sense it.”

She always said that to me, I thought now as I sat on my bed that evening - watching a flame dance on the palm of my hand - but she never said anything more about it. It was getting to the point where I wasn’t sure she even knew herself what my purpose was. Maybe she just working for someone just like I was working for her? Maybe they hadn’t told her yet. Or maybe she just didn’t want to tell me. I was very quickly realising that I knew nothing about Ma’am and it was starting to really scare me. I knew her well enough though, to know that something had changed since the last time I had seen her back in the HYDRA base. It was like she had been biding her time before - pacing restless, waiting for the right moment. Now, whenever I saw her in passing, she always looked busier, eager, always handing out orders to skeleton guards… She seemed… happier. Like something was finally happening.

Before the tower, this might have made me happy as well – to see Ma’am happy. To see her in a good mood was to mean that she would pay me more attention – almost mother me - rather than seeing me as something akin to an annoying pet fish she kept in the back room and had to remember to feed on occasion. Now it was like that most of the time, but I no longer relished her visits and often spent the time just wishing she would leave.

I couldn’t say at exactly what point my mind had taken such a sharp U-turn on my opinion on Ma’am – or _Hela_ – but it was like all her flaws had been pointed out to me now and I could no longer see the same person I thought I once knew.

I had been so naïve.

I resented her for the tower, it was true – I had been in a happy content little bubble, lost in a world where Ma’am didn’t exist, until she had sharply popped it with her appearance that day. After that, the real world had flooded back in then, drowning out the tower and the people within, and - even now – her words on that day haunted me.

_“I think we’ll postpone this particular execution for later…”_

That’s what Hela had said.

My heart panged at the memory of this promise to Loki and Thor. I could see it now, Loki collapsed on the floor like he had been when I had found him surrounded by flames on that day - but this time his skin would be even colder than usual, this time his unconscious state would be far more permanent – this time no power of mine would be able to keep him safe. The very idea was enough for me to feel my throat constricting and my eyes prickle. I could remember how much it had hurt me when I had barely known him - when I’d hated him - now though? After everything he’d done for me? After being the closest thing to a friend I’d ever had? The idea was killing me already and that I knew of nothing had even happened to him yet.

And, even if I could theoretically put aside all my feelings towards Loki – what about the rest of the tower? What would stop Hela from ‘dealing’ with them as well? What were a few other lives to her in the grand scheme of things after all? I was hardly as close to the others, but they had rescued me – at least thought they had, and maybe they had? – and I had to admit I liked them – even Stark – and I certainly didn’t want them harmed when they were clearly innocent in all of this…

But it had been made all too clear earlier today that Ma’am didn’t care about innocents if they got in the way of what she wanted. That was what the interrogations were all about after all.

It had been the first time I was allowed to leave the confines of my room, and the first time I had actually seen other Asgardian citizens other than the undead or Scurge – Ma’am’s righthand man – that wandered the corridors. The mood had been sober to the point that, at first, I’d had to wonder if we were attending a funeral I didn’t know about. The rain had been a fine mist that morning - the type that made the air feel damp and made you soaking wet without you even realising it – and it had been clear by the faces in front of me that no one had wanted to be there. Except Hela of course. She appeared to be relishing the scene.

Despite the looks of the people that had stood before me, I’d still wished I could have walked among them rather than stand where I had been on the palace steps above. Personally, I hadn’t known what to feel at the time. My senses were overwhelmed simply by finally being outside – if only on the front steps of the palace – and I felt more numb than anything else. I’m sure I should have been happy – shown a united front with Ma’am - but I couldn’t find it in myself to do anything other than stare blankly out at the crowd.

I assumed Ma’am had brought me in the hopes I would learn something, but I also believe I was there to intimidate. I don’t know what was supposed to be threatening about me though. I certainly hadn’t felt it anyway – I’d just felt like everyone else in the crowd – a lost young girl in mourning. And maybe that was what I was.

I’d flinched when Hela had picked the young girl out of the crowd, had her dragged up on steps just below me. She couldn’t have been much older than myself and looked the picture of innocence in her white dress, shawl and angelic blonde hair. I remember when she was thrown onto her hands and knees on the stone before Scurge who then raised his heavy axe over his head.

Someone was supposed to step forward with information over the missing Bifrost sword - someone was supposed to stop it. But in the moment, I remember glancing over at Ma’am and seeing they she didn’t care if they did or not. It had been no empty threat. There was a clear hesitation in Scurge, but Ma’am? Her face never flickered or faltered. She would see it through, that much was clear.

I had wanted to run forward, cry out a protest that there had to be another way, but I didn’t. I just stood there – out of fear or self-preservation I wasn’t sure – and watched, praying someone would come forward because I didn’t want to see what happened if they didn’t.

It was true, I played no part in what happened – and the girl was set free - but I really wished that Ma’am hadn’t thought to bring me with her this morning. I could still feel the weight of guilt on my shoulders for having done nothing and I feared what Hela would do with the information about the Bifrost thief.

I suddenly froze then, instinctively snapping my hand closed and snuffing out the flame that I had been staring so intently at this whole time. I didn’t move as I strained my ears to listen to the hallway outside the room, soon picking up the familiar click of heels again.

Ma’am had decided to pay me a visit.

She entered my quarters a moment later, sighing when she saw my untouched plate of food. “Eat something tonight will you.” She told me, attempting to veil her sternness with a tone of affection that didn’t work.

“I’m not hungry.” I mumbled, my appetite still not what it was after the events I had witnessed earlier that day.

“I do not care if you are not hungry, I’m not having you wasting away.” She growled lowly.

Since I’d been back at Ma’am’s side, my training regime had been increased from my days in the HYDRA facility, and the focus placed more on my newfound powers. I had enjoyed it at first – sometimes even managing to distract myself from the thoughts of the tower I had left behind - but even that grew old eventually. Now I barely ever tried to push the limits of my powers, both out of fear of my own abilities – and no Loki available to help me to remain under control – and because I honestly didn’t find that I cared anymore what I could do. What use was it if I _could_ wield a tower of flames? What was that what would be necessary when my ‘time came’? Did I want that to be my use in life? A way to channel something, nothing but a vessel? Was that all Hela saw me as? The more I asked myself these questions, the more my concentration and powers seemed to wane. Now Hela was beginning to notice, and she would only put it down to my poor eating habits for so long.

I glanced up now from where I had been staring at my hands in my lap sullenly, seeing that Hela was still stood close to the door. I wanted – no I _needed_ – to broach the subject. I been trying to push down the worries, but they gnawed at me, Ma’am’s words gnawed at me. I needed to know if she meant them, if she did truly plan to act on them. I was sure I knew the answer, her previous actions spoke volumes, but I needed it confirmed. I cleared my throat. “Ma’am,” I began, then dropping my eyes to my hands again, “Did you – did you mean it? When you said you’d kill Loki - and Thor?” I asked nervously, shooting a quick glance up to her, seeing her face seemed to have darken at their names.

“Of course, I meant it.” Ma’am told me firmly, “Don’t tell me you could possibly have developed any semblance of fondness towards those oaths?” She laughed a light, cruel chuckle. “I thought that was one of the few things you had managed to truly grasp early in your training.”

I ignored that particular insult - though it stung – my mind too focused on what else she had said. “Why is it necessary?” I asked, trying to sound more politely interested than desperately pleading – Ma’am wouldn’t appreciate that. “They’re stuck far away on Earth now that the Bifrost sword is missing.” I pointed out, “Surely they cannot be worth your time or effort!”

“If it were true I may have been persuaded to agree with you,” Hela said, “But they were foolish enough to try to follow after us –“ My eyes widened in disbelief at this. _No_. Ma’am saw the look on my face but seemed to misread it. “If that is what is causing you so much distraction, my dear, rest assured I have… _dealt_ with the loose ends.” She said as though this was somehow supposed to comfort me.

“You mean…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I felt as though my heart had taken a knife straight through its centre, then plummeted, not only to my feet, but through the floors of the palace right to the bedrock below.

“The Princes are dead. Yes. No need to dwell on it.” Hela dismissed shamelessly, waving the matter aside with her hand as thought their lives had meant nothing.

She’d thrown them into empty space. That was the most detail I could get out from Hela before she grew impatient with my questioning and stiffly excused herself.

I remained on the bed, never having felt so achingly empty in all my life.

And that was all I could think about – the hollowness. I hugged my arms tightly around my chest as though that was the only way to keep a of hold of myself – to stop myself crumbling into a million pieces. I’d never felt so cold. I could probably have lit a flame to engulf my entire body and yet felt none of its warmth. This went deeper than skin temperature, this was a cruel icy uncaring freeze that pinched painfully on what remained in my chest.

Through this, I  could still hear the rain lashing against the windows and I eventually found it in myself to get numbly to my feet, trudging to the glass panes. I shouldn’t have asked. But wasn’t it better to know? To know they were gone rather than holding onto the hope that they would somehow rescue me? I hadn’t realised it before, but now I thought about it I knew that was what I had been hoping for all along – that somehow Loki would come and get to me and take me back to the tower and we could return to how things were.

That was the dream, but now that dream was gone. I could still feel that a small naïve part of my heart still wanted to cling to it though – impossible as it was - happy to keep it just for when I slept, and the ghosts would feel real again.

I stared blankly at the large raindrops that clung to the glass and the dark blanket of fog beyond. The weather seemed to fit my mood now, the room dark and as cold as you felt despite the large fire that burnt in the hearth. I tried to look for the familiar rooftops below that always seemed to be trying to fight to be seen, but I was no longer in the mood to dream of the lives beneath the clouds and I gave up my search quickly. Everything seemed darker tonight now, but maybe that was just me. It reminded me of a storm was brewing as the rain lashed straight down in parallel grids and the wind battered the glass in front of you. Yet there was no thunder to be heard, and no lighting cracked through the fog.

It seemed to make sense to me in that moment though. Why would there be, when there was no Thor?

I felt a single tear escape the corner of my eye and an idea seemed to hit me in the same moment. Or maybe it wasn’t an idea, maybe it was a realisation. I had seen a better world then what Ma’am was trying to create. What she promised. I might never be able to have it anymore, but there was no reason others couldn’t – that the gold streets in your head couldn’t exist again. It didn’t have to be this constant misery for everyone.

Something had to change. The people on the streets were scared, weak and vulnerable. Thor and Loki were gone. I felt my chest tighten again at that thought.

Others were experiencing this same empty feeling as well, though - this aching pain. People were suffering – I was suffering – because of Hela and her actions. And Hela was wrong. More than wrong – wrong meant there was a hope you could be convinced to do something right, but Hela couldn’t be convinced, all her actions up to now had told me that.

Someone had to help.

But someone had, hadn’t they? Someone had stolen the Bifrost sword to prevent Hela’s destruction spreading.

I had to find them – help them. Thor and Loki wouldn’t be lost from history - I would get their Asgard back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I’m soooo sorry for the really long wait on this part but I really lost the motivation to write this series after the last part (you can probably tell by the quality of the writing!) However, I decided to fight through the writers block and I’m back!
> 
> I will confess I keep accidentally writing in second person - so sorry if you spot any of that, and I haven’t done a huge amount of editing on this piece and I thinks it’s a bit clunky, but hopefully its not as dreadful as I think it is…. :S


	18. Part 18

Hela had thought she’d raised me to not care, I thought bitterly to myself as I snuck my way down the corridor, my path only lit by the small flame I held gently in my palm.

But unlike Ma’am, I was no god. She hoped I wouldn’t feel.

But I do.

And I couldn’t just stand by and watch this.

Any questioning glances I was given as I moved throughout the place was silenced with a simple mention of requiring food as I headed for the pantry. I knew there was a small stone servants corridor that led off from the main kitchen chamber.

One which contained a small window.

I snuffed the flame when I reached the window and hoisted myself up onto the ledge, pushing the pane open before I scrambled out of it.

I glanced down. Two floors up from the ground I knew was beneath despite being obscured from view. It was a decent size fall – something that would jolt me - but it shouldn’t injure me. With that comfort in mind, I let myself drop, landing heavily despite my attempts, and my knees buckled beneath me, pitching me forward onto the grass beneath into a forward roll.

The grass was wet beneath the bank of fog that continued to lie unbroken over the surroundings. Though I had loathed it before, I now thanked it for the cover it provided me from any eyes in the palace above and could only hope my brief drop from the window had gone unobserved.

I pushed myself back up to my feet, but kept myself bent over at the hips as I edged under the fog, my shins damp though I paid no heed to it, knowing I couldn’t risk a fire to try to dry them.

The fog might hide my figure, but the flame would surely glow through.

I headed straight for the closest line of trees - not quite trusting the fog not to have thinned in places,  though I had never known it to before. I wasn’t sure where I was heading, but I had to try something to find whoever stole the Bifrost sword.

I hurried along the side of the hill at the bottom of the palace, now – below the thick cloud - able to see the edges of the city beyond - the paved streets and lit buildings, the shrubbery that lined the gardens and lanterns that glowed along the arches and stone bridges.

It almost looked normal if it wasn’t for the lack of people on the streets who would usually be enjoying the mild evening air and clear skies.

I was pulled out of my thoughts sharply by a flash of light that momentarily blinded me, having reflected a bright lantern’s glow into my eye. I squinted, shielding my eyes and slowing to a slight jog till I stopped altogether, trying to work out what had caused the light.

When my vision cleared again though, there was nothing in the direction the light had come from.

I frowned, moving forward slower now, keeping my eyes on the path where the light had come from. A movement suddenly caught the corner of my eye, grabbing my attention as it flickered behind several buildings and then headed for a large open bridge that headed out of the city and towards the mountainside.

Was it a shawl? A cloak? I broke out into a run towards the movements, heading towards the columns. I don’t know what I hoped for, but it was a clue if nothing else – something I feared would take days or maybe even weeks to find.

My legs carried me hurtling down the steep grassy bank towards the cobbled road, desperate to catch up with whatever I had seen – somehow realising I needed to get there and I praying that I hadn’t filled my head with false hope.

I suddenly skidded to a halt though when I caught sight of one of Ma’am’s undead guards chasing after the figure with me.

The figure I had been following now suddenly stopped as well, spinning to its pursuer, and drawing a  large broad sword out of nowhere, slicing the undead creature clean in half, its body parts falling limp to the floor.

I pulled myself back together again and began to head forward once more at a brisk walk that that soon broke into a jog towards the stranger. The closer I got, the more familiar the figure’s features became until I knew I had seen him before. In a book during my studies.  

He stood tall, proud and lean despite his fatigue from the run and battle – the gateman of the Bifrost. Heimdall.

As I continued to run towards him, another undead creature ran at Heimdall, almost berserk, and the gateman drove his sword forward into its chest, the force causing the skeleton to fall over backward, the blade catching it’s ribs and yanking the weapon out of Heimdall’s hands.

Before Heimdall could retrieve his weapon from where it was impaled in the creature, another guard took a swipe at his back with an axe which Heimdall dodged with astonishing reflexes before driving a heavy fist into the skeleton’s chest. I didn’t realise Heimdall gripped a dagger in this fist until he pulled back and I noticed it stained with a dark substance.

Heimdall turned back to retrieve his sword a second time, but faltered when it was no longer lodged in the undead guard’s chest. His gaze flickered up to where I now stood over the body, the heavy weapon in my hand.

I caught the flicker of recognition in Heimdall’s eyes a moment before the thick muscled man then  lunged at me with the dagger still in his grip. Somehow I was quicker though, jumping back and dodging the blade repeatedly swung at me with deadly force. I was forced to drag the heavy sword back with me and I knew I couldn’t put enough distance between us to keep this up for long and I knew if Heimdall could manage to catch me, I would be done for before I could explain anything.

I rested the point of the blade on the cobbles at my feet and waved my free arm in the air in front of me, calling the flames from the torches that hung on the columns either side of us to flood out of their scones and down onto the floor, creating a roaring wall of fire between me and my attacker.

Heimdall staggered back at the wave of heat that spat at him, but I knew it wouldn’t hold him long, the fierce look in his eye told me he was already looking for a weakness in the barrier and I wouldn’t put it past him to just walk straight through for the sword in my hand.

Because I knew what this weapon was.

The missing sword.

The key to the Bifrost

Which he now thought was in the hands of the enemy.

“I’m not a foe!” I called out desperately, raising my free hand in surrender – as well as maintaining the fire - as the sword rested heavily against me.

“ _Not a foe.”_  He scoffed. “Do not try to fool me! You work for that witch!” He growled, throwing his chin up toward the bank of fog that blocked the palace from view. “You’re her little protegee.” He eyed the flames with disgust, still seeming to be weighing up the risk of stepping through.

“Please – Heimdall!” You urged desperately, “I’m not – I’m not with her,” I panted, pulling at the weakly at the sword. “I didn’t know better before, but now – now I can see the real her – the death and mayhem she’s caused – I don’t want to be a part of that! I want to help! Please, I know you don’t trust me, but I  _need_  you to!” I begged.

Heimdall narrowed his eyes at me over the flames. I sighed, “Here.” The flames vanished almost as soon as they had appeared and I heaved the sword, taking a step forward, which instinctively made Heimdall tense ready for an attack, but I just pulled the pommel towards him, handing it to him.

“I’m not a foe.” You repeated tiredly as he warily reached out for the pommel, every muscle of his arms tense and ready for a surprise attack.

Suddenly he snatched the sword handle, easily lifting if over his head and I instinctively cringed,  ducking my head and screwing my eyes closed ready for the impact.

Instead, though, I heard a familiar grunt and glanced up to see another undead guard drop to the floor behind Heimdall, his muscular back – hidden by his cape – now in front of me.

Another grunt now sounded behind me and, before Heimdall could turn, I threw my hand behind me and ignited the guard’s stretched dry skin easily, now turning the creature into a charging ball of fire.

I spun where I crouched, flinging out a leg to catch the rushing creature and kicking him sideways so he toppled easily over the ledge and into the chasm below the bridge - thankful there was no railing or wall to get in the way.

I could hear the clash of sword on bone behind me, but I didn’t have time to glance back as I noticed two more guards dashing towards me from the direction of the city.

After sending these creatures a similar way to the last one, I barely had time to even right myself before there was a hand on my upper arm as Heimdall dragged me round and pulling me after him. We ran down the rest of the long open bridge that Asgard with the surrounding mountains, my legs not taking long to protest thanks to my run down from the castle.

Suddenly I found myself dangling over the edge of the abyss below, my feet only connected to the bridge by my heels still resting on the cobbles and Heimdall’s strong fingers curling  into the front of my tunic were the only things stopping me from falling.

“Why did you leave the witch?” He snarled down at me, sweat gleaming on his forehead.

I stuttered slightly as I explained everything I had been through – hoping it didn’t sound as ridiculous as it did to my own ears. Heimdall was silent for a while once I had finished and I chewed my lip anxiously, silently pleading that he would even try to believe me.

“Ok.” He muttered and the next thing I knew, he had heaved me back upright, the blood rushing from my head back down to my feet making me feel slightly light headed for a moment, and I had no columns, the large broadsword edge at my throat. “Betray me, though, and you will suffer the consequences…” He growled warningly down at me.

I didn’t dare speak or even nod for fear of driving the sword further into my skin, but he seemed to accept the undeniable fear in my eyes that said I wouldn’t push my luck that far, because he then removed the sword, releasing me. I stumbled forward slightly, not realising I had even risen onto my toes, and breathed in lungful’s of air that I hadn’t dared to a minute ago.

Without another glance at me, Heimdall continued down the bridge without a word and, after a pause, I followed after him, glancing around in fear of seeing more guards. He led me the rest of the way into the mountains, soon venturing off the main path and onto a near invisible trail that had been worn into the rocks.

It felt like we turned back on ourselves over and over, but eventually we stopped in the centre of a path that seemed to incircle one of the peaks of the Asgardian mountain range. I watched Heimdall expectantly, but he didn’t even glance at me, and my attention was soon distracted by the cliff face opposite us. Its carved surface looked ornate like several other areas of the mountain we had passed, but now I realised it was more than just and art within the stone as it now  seemed to crack before my eyes and the wall came away like a draw bridge, creating a crossing over the canyon that separated the peaks.

Finally, Heimdall stepped onto the stone wall, heading into the cavern that had now been revealed in the wall.

I barely hesitated before stepping after him.

I heard the wall close up almost immediately behind us, closing us into complete darkness compared to the dim light from the moons outside which had managed to filter through the fog.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but then I caught the vague glimmer of torches down a passageway which I followed Heimdall towards. We eventually entered a large hall in which I found myself on a raised ledge above a huge chamber which I soon realised was full of people, all their faces now turned to me in horror, women encircling their children in their arms or shielding them behind their back, crouching in fear.

I couldn’t believe how scared they were of me.

But who could blame me after everything Hela did – and with me always stood right next to her.

“Do not be afraid of this girl.” Heimdall declared to the group, not needing to get their attention, my presence already enough. “Watch her with caution, but she assures me her loyalty does not lie with the would-be queen. I have heard her story and witnessed her rid us of three of the witch’s guards.” He announced, glancing over at me with a grave look on his face before turning back to the crowd, “I trust her.” He stated and I couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So its been so looooonnnnggg since I've written! I'm trying to get back into it now - and here's the start! :)


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